February 8–March 22, 2014
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 8, 6–8pm
“Sparrow” by Holly A. Senn
ArtEAST and Eastside Writes present “Undercover Stories: The Secret Lives of Books.”
The month-long event will include an exhibit of artist books, some created from books, curated by book artist MalPina Chan, and a series of visual arts and writing workshops.
From the Curator’s statement: “The contemporary artist books in this exhibition are exceptional in their many forms. The exhibition features many different book structures, re-purposed found materials, fabric, hand-made papers, and papers embellished with paint, image transfer, borax, stitching, and calligraphed elements. These artists were inspired by nature, personal memory, family history, cultural memory, toys, art historical book forms, natural history, science and travels. This exhibit includes book artists from Oregon, California, and Illinois and members of Puget Sound Book Artists.”
Through “Undercover Stories,” artEAST and Eastside Writes intend to build community around art and writing. By examining the book as both text and object, “Undercover Stories” hopes to spark conversation and creative expression among diverse participants.
“Knock on Wood” by MalPina Chan
“Though paper books today face fierce competition from their digital counterparts, we believe it’s way too early to bid them farewell,” said Dianne Aprile, co-founder of Eastside Writes and editor of “The Book,” an anthology of essays inspired by photographs of altered books. “Handmade books, letter-press books and altered books are gaining more and more fans—as if to protest the potential loss of paper books and to celebrate their long, evolving history in all our lives,” Aprile said.
Participating artists: James Allen, Alexis Arnold, MalPina Chan, Debbi Commodore, An Gates, Deborah Greenwood, Lucia Harrison, Karen Hanmer, Mark Hoppmann, Heidi Kirkpatrick, Lynne Knopp, Dorothy McCuistion, Chandler O’Leary, Laura Russell, Jessica Spring, Holly A. Senn, Bonnie Thompson Norman
Many Thanks to the Arteast Art Center, and Eastside Writes of Issaquah, Washington, for the reproducing of this article from their website. For additional information and directions, visit their website at: arteast.org