Pages/Panels

I rarely get a chance to show my artists books so I'm excited for to have the opportunity to show a selection from 2010 to 2017 in the Atrium Gallery at the Lunder Arts Center in Cambridge.

Assume that This Has Always Been

This book was originally going to be done in one week. It turned into a summer-long project. Every single aspect of the book fought me. I was constantly cutting, gluing, printing, reprinting and revising. The pacing of the book was delicate and far more complex than I anticipated. It became a book about desiring to be elsewhere, absence, and correspondence.

There is a little bit of everything in these pages: lithographs, monoprints, typewritten text, French stamps from my Grandfather's collection, and fragments of letters from the 1860s.

You can see all of the spreads here. 

Assume that This Has Always Been 
16 page single signature
mixed media, unique edition
6x12" opened, 6x6" page size

copyright Kate Castelli 2012

Process

These are thumbnails and notes for a book that I've been working on all summer. It was originally going to be a one week book, but it took on a life of its own. It has been fighting me the whole way. The layout for the single signature and the content have proven to be more complex than I originally thought. It has been a good challenge, but I will be glad when it is finally done and sewn.

Book-a-week: Collaboration

And now for something completely different...

For the last month or so I've been working on a collaborative book with my friend Caroline Board (see her work at http://carolineboard.com). I started on the first panel and then would leave it in her studio and we passed it back and forth over the weeks. We finished it up last week and right after I attached the covers we decided that we didn't like the first four panels as much as we liked the last four panels, so...we cut the book in half!

It's been a good experience working back and forth this way, and we've just started a new book, so stay tuned.

Week No. 6?
Untitled (Collaboration No. 1)
accordion with hard covers, 4 pages
mixed media
7 x 20" opened

Book-a-Week: Eyes

 

This is a very experimental book. I made the paper a couple of months ago using the Japanese method of sheet forming. I had printed the eyes from a lino block on vintage paper and then imbedded the individual prints in between layers of Kozo fiber. The Kozo fiber is very strong but translucent, allowing the printed image to be visible.


I had put aside the paper until recently when I was experimenting with beeswax. I dipped the sheets in a tray of molten beeswax. Some sheets I submerged entirely, others I dipped halfway or two-thirds of the way. When they had cooled, I placed the sheets between blotter paper and ironed off the excess beeswax.

The beeswax intensified the translucency of the paper and the imbedded images. When folded and stacked, the eyes were visible through several layers. The result is a delicate, but surprisingly strong book.

Week No. 2
Untitled (Eyes)
single signature, 10 pages
handmade Kozo paper, linocuts, beeswax
7.25 x 7.25"

Pressed

My miniature book press in action. It measures a mere 3 x 4 inches. Buried under all the wax paper are the pieces of a new book...