Ex Libris

Detail from Ex Libris

In 1998 I developed a unique, experimental process where books and periodicals were fired in controlled kiln environments with no clay or slip addition. These works culminated in my 2000 thesis exhibition Ex Libris. Utilizing conditions of chance and controlled processes that allowed the hand, water, fire and chemical processes to sculpt books, I was intrigued by how the physical qualities of the books changed state. Each book was unique, revealing a range of surfaces, textures, page striations and subtle colours according to the degree of temperature subjected to. Some were fragile, bloom-like forms or skeletal remains, while others were coral-like, calcified forms with covers that were shell-like in feel with text, cover titles, and book cover colours present in their new, warped state. The books were no longer recognizable in their usual context, but transformed into poetic remnants of their former selves–ephemeral and ghost-like forms; suggesting internal landscapes and a trajectory of time, transformation and memory…Or the implication of scholar's rocks: at once a profound, simultaneous erosion and preservation of culture