I began a focused
concentration on art when I arrived on Denver's landscape in 1979. Each
medium was a stepping stone to the next project, evolving into a new leg
of my in soft sculpture, pen and ink, paper making, altered book, book
making, book sculptures and beading. In order to make sense of my experiences
in this world, art has helped me hold onto the physicality of a greater
picture of life, that I may view each new art piece with new eyes, always
pointing to the wonder of it all. Its always amazing to me to see how
book sculptures develop and create a new metaphor in another prespective.
I took a class in book arts at Metro State College. This medium expanded all that I thought about what a book was. I started to question; Why does a book have to be rectangle? Why does it have to have paper? Why does a book have to have sequence? Why do you have to hold a book and turn pages to glean the information from it? Since a book informs us by its shape, texture, color and size, why cant books inform us about the content in more creative ways? All of these questions Ive tried to answer in my exploration of books |
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The Answer - Pyramid Book Sculpture In this pyramid form, the book takes the reader through a series of questions, all which are designed to give an answer according to what dimension it comes from. I contend that there are always four ways to solve a problem through the four aspects of our psyche. The four aspects of the pyramid are the dimensions of the human experience in the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual world. The truest answer to some of lifes most troubling problems is in the center of all four worlds: Acceptance. |
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An altered book form uses the shape and sequence of a book as a scaffolding to a new expression, altering the form, pages, text and texture. |
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I Believe In Me The inspiration for this book came about after seeing a few very talented friends experience self doubt. |
Come Back to the Center This is an altered book form, which acts as a reminder that the longest journey is from the head to the heart. |
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The
Ancestor Purse Book
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This book is the result of a dream I had of being on top of Mount Antero. I believe this was a result of the previous night calling on my healed ancestors in my bloodline to assist me in my own healing of family issues. The dream: 8-25-07 I am in the mining pit of Mount Antero. It somehow looks all paved and smoothed over. I sit down and right in front of me are some aquamarine crystals. I scoop them up and put them in my pack. Then I look up and see people coming through a doorway from the other side of the mountain all the way on top. They are tourists and have taken a walk way up here. I go up there and get in line. |
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The
Dream Catcher
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I woke up from a
dream with this picture in my mind. The thrust of the sticks weaving
through the book and the randomness of piercing space, feels like intersecting
ideas, thoughts, feelings, wonders of the natural world. One day when
I passed the sculpture in my studio, it occurred to me that it resembled
a dream catcher
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Emergence This is an altered book form which is based on a series of dreams I had with a universal theme of my emerging animus, the masculine side of myself to precipitate change. |
John
O' Dreams When
midnight comes and people homeward tread, |
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Paralysis
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This altered book is an expression of the "awakened sleep paralysis" that I experienced for over 20 years. Upon going to sleep I would get caught in this space that would draw me forcefully away from the body, yet I was awake and my physical body was "switched off" unable to move....paralized! It is a common occurrence with many people, happening a few times in their life, however, I would experience this regularly. Its a frightening experience, since I did not understand what was happening. Buried inside the pages of this altered book is a large and very strong magnet. |
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The Long Journey
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Codex Book - Leather and handmade paper A codex was one of the oldest forms of books that were made, generally out of velum (animal skin) and animal hide in the early Middle Ages. ![]() |
Two Codex Books - Yellow Matt Codex and Triangle Codex Book
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Copyright 2020 Enoch Productions,
Denver, Colorado, USA