Philadelphia: Alice Austin, 2008. Paperback. Number 13 of 30 copies, signed by the artist. A book about dreams, memories, the loss of a friend, the loss of the past, and the loss of the possibility of connecting again. It concludes with acceptance and a hopeful look to the future. Bound in painted fushia Tyvek covered boards with navy cloth spine and fushia paper title label. The interior is letterpress printed with hand set type on Zerkall paper. Illustrated with linocuts. [14 pages.] Size: 7 x 8 inches.

"My approach to the book is often sculptural: the form presents the idea. Words, when used, reinforce the visual. My knowledge of different book forms has evolved over the years spent as a book conservator and teacher. I see myself as a keeper of craft, using this respect for a beautifully realized book, and combining it with a modern approach, to create a sensual object. In my work I am interested in the textures of different mark making - drawn or printed - the feel of the paper - the sound of the page - as it relates to the entire book" (artist statement).

Alice Austin is a printmaker, book artist and painter living and working in Philadelphia. She has been on the faculty at the University of the Arts, teaching book structures, and has also taught workshops at the Center for Book Arts in New York, Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ireland, The Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice, and other institutions. She earned a BFA from the Philadelphia College of Art and has been an active member of the Guild of Book Workers since 1998. She worked as a rare book and paper conservator for over 20 years at the Library Company of Philadelphia. Alice has also been awarded several artist residencies in Europe, and her work is widely held in private, public and special collections worldwide. ARTB/030624. Fine. More

Gainesville, FL: Crooked Letter Press, 2014-2015. Hardcover. Number 35 of 50 copies signed and numbered by the book artist. Crooked Letter Press is the imprint of book artist and graphic designer, Ellen Knudson. Ellen is currently Associate in Book Arts at The University of Florida. She holds an MFA in Book Arts from The University of Alabama. Ellen has been a book artist for 17 years and a professional graphic designer for 20+ years . She has taught letterpress printing and Book Arts at The University of Florida, The University of Alabama, and graphic design at Mississippi State University and Wayne State University. Her work is in the collections of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Yale University, The Library of Congress, and many other national and international collections.

Ellen Knudson describes her perceptive and imaginative book as composed of mysterious structures, imagined genomes, and fictitious chemistry - that are "ALL TRUE." She explains that Made Up is a non-scientific science book about the imaginary cellular composition of the human body. The artist, who wrote, designed, and letterpress printed this work has identified both positive and negative human attributes such as anger, curiosity, fear, joy, knowledge, and trust among others. She has then created colorful replicas of the cells that host these attributes to show their composition and their effects on the host body. There is also an often witty description of each type of cell, its qualities, and its effect on other cells. Bound in brown paper covered boards with a cell-like design and a tan linen spine. Titling in gilt to spine. Bright yellow endpapers. The book is printed on Mohawk Superfine 100# text weight paper. The typefaces used are Spectrum and Franklin Gothic Condensed printed from photopolymer plates. The cell images are multi-block and reduction linoleum prints. The structure is a drum-leaf binding. It is housed in a brown cloth clamshell box with an opening cut into the front cover that reveals part of a cell's image. In fine condition. Measures 6 x 12 inches. Unpaginated. PRI/030923. Fine. More

Portland, OR: Relay Replay Press, 2011. Hardcover. Number 22 or 26 copies. Shu-Ju Wang founded the Relay Replay Press in 2008 after receiving a 2008 Regional Arts and Culture Council Grant, which she dedicated to working with the elderly suffering from various stages and forms of memory loss. She worked one-on-one with five seniors, meeting with each over a period of several months. This touching book about Arnold Metz was the 5th issued by the press. Wang writes: "Arnie's life [was] always anchored around a farm or body of water. He was born and raised on a South Dakota farm and retired to an Oregon farm; in between, he fought in the Pacific during WWII and raised a family around the Great Lakes. [This book] is grounded in this connection to the land and to water....While he was not able to participate hands-on in creating this book, his physical presence can be found throughout. Included are his handwritten notes, drawings and letters, photographs supplied by friends and family, and the soil and water that touched his life....The book contains numerous silkscreen prints and five Solarplate etchings printed on custom paper made by Helen Hiebert containing soil from Arnie's [farms] and water from the Pacific Ocean, the Willamette and Columbia Rivers." Bound in blue and green Nepal Heavyweight paper. Created using etching, Print Gocco in an accordion format with 9 leaves, including 5 gatefolds. The design on the back of the book was based on the melody of "San Antonio Rose" that Arnie used to play on the harmonica. A beautiful book in fine condition. Measures 4 3/4 x 8 1/8 inches. ARTISTSB/041421. Fine. More

Tuscon, AZ: Troctopus, 2024. Hardcover. Number 2 of 15 copies. According to the book artists: "'Arrhythmia' is a collaborative artist book by Alain Co and Emiland Kray. The content of this book explores the clinging nature of past trauma and how those cycles persist within the lived realities of each artist. Pulled directly from the journals of Co and Kray, the text within this book shows hopelessness, violence, loneliness, worry, and fear in their most vulnerable states. This book was created with the intention that sharing these inner monologues could be a moment of recognition and comradery for individuals who suffer the same thoughts, harmful patterns, and compulsions. The book’s size is a testament to this. Arrhythmia can fit within the palm of your hand and can be cradled by the pressure from your fingers as they wrap around it. The preciousness of these thoughts and the preciousness of this object go hand-in-hand. Furthermore, the bronze cast slipcase will change color due to oxidation the more it is handled with bare skin. Meaning that this piece’s color will become richer and more nuanced if given physical affection over time, just as we strive to do as humans to each other everyday. This artwork through rawness and horrific honesty gives readers a chance to receive that vulnerability with firm acceptance and love."

They continue: "In line with the attachment theory in the field of Childhood psychology, the type of love that was modeled to us by our parents while we were children is formulaically how each child continues to model love throughout their lives as they grow up. When a familial system models behaviors such as neglect, physical and/or mental abuse, or emotional instability, that is the framework from which the child develops under and bases all future relationships upon. This developmental framework is part of what defines the attachment theory at large that describes 4 main attachment styles: healthy attachment, anxious attachment, avoidant attachment, and disorganized attachment. This book draws upon that research and shows, rather than tells, what it feels like to have developed unhealthy attachment styles due to past trauma. In addition to sharing the thoughts of the artists associated with their attachment patterns, it also shows us the ways in which we can heal and cope through community and love. Research shows that consistent communication with healthcare professionals and healthy communication with one’s own community is instrumental in rewiring the brain to recognize past attachment patterns as unhealthy and be flexible and accepting towards learning and adopting new attachment patterns. Arrhythmia consolidates all of this into an experience that readers can hold in the palm of their hands."

A miniature book bound in Asahi silk covered boards with navy blue Moroccan leather spine. Raised bands to spine and embossed design to front board. Letterpress printed on French Paper with inkjet detailing at Bett's printing Co. This project was created on the traditional lands of the Tohono O' odham, Yaqui, Pennacook, Abenaki, and Wabanaki peoples. Housed in a broze cast slipcase, which was cast at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Book size: 3 x 1.5 inches. Case size (with book inserted): 3.25 x 1.75 x .75 inches.

Arizona based book artist Emiland Kray says about his work: "My artwork poses questions about the mechanics of how we remember – the complexity that exists within those entangled systems. I visually introduce instances of slippage in our recollection of the past and the decay of memory towards nostalgia. Through my work, I gather and sift through intangible archives: dreams, nightmares, and memories themselves to find how these essences make statements about the importance of memory but also the futility and temperance of life. I use the systems of remembering hidden within the body to make statements about identity, fear, and longing but also to search for the morphology of nostalgia. With a combination of watercolor, ink, game design, and book arts I create tension between the real and the surreal and uncanny. This combination disrupts the recognizability of the archive and thus also disrupts the stability and the seductive nostalgic essence of the past. These techniques pose the past as questionable, memory as simulation, and evidence as incomplete. My work seeks to make visible our growing pains and to reject comfort in the notion of a perfect genesis." ARTB/050925. Fine. More