books from Fall 2008

I have been a word in a book. The text on this book is the opening line of a three line poem "I have been a word in a book, Today I am a leaf; Tomorrow I will be a pebble." Coptic Binding.

Feathers. Modified long-stitch binding.

Hindu Kush.

Hindu Kush. This is a watercolor drawing of the Hindu Kush mountains in eastern Afghanistan. Long-stitch binding.

Luna moth. Paper bag, recycled paper, block print. Slanted-line binding.

For Price Farm. The image on this book is based on the logo of a small alternative school I went to. Modified coptic binding.

Sundancer. This is done from a single-use stencil. Modifed bar-loop binding.

Mari with Squares, 1. This is a portrait of a friend of mine. Modified coptic binding

Mari with squares, 2. Slanted line binding.

I imagine the sun rising. These books share the same text, a three stanza poem beginning with the line, "I imagine the sun rising on my day." Internal strap binding (left), Belgian secret binding (right).

Inside pages of I imagine the sun rising.

Library trees in fall. The drawing on this book mimic the trees in a diorama at a library my grandfather used to take me to when I was little. Looking at these trees I remember the room full of dioramas and how my grandfather woudl hold me up to look at them. Slanted cross binding.

early 2008 books

These ones are from winter and spring 2008 and a few from the early summer, before Prayer for an Agricultural Future.

Cutting my hair. This one was made in the shocking day or two after a drastic cut-it-myself adventure this past summer. Buttonhole binding and calligraphy ink.

There are still some pieces left. The fabric that covers this book was once part of a dress that someone made for me in Afghanistan. Even almost five years after my brief stay in Afghanistan, there is not a day that I don’t think about it. Over the years this dress has gone into skirts for myself, keychains, ribbons, and finally, books. Modified coptic binding.

The Words of Stones. The mountains on the cover of this book are drawn from a photography that I took leaving Kabul. But the text that runs inside the book is about melting into the earth. About being a part of the dirt and the stones and the slow process of weathering. Bar-loop binding.

Unspoken. The cover pages of this book contain the complete woven text of a story about driving home on Christmas Eve, printed on tracing paper. Coptic binding.