Artist Book – Hindostani
The cover of the HINDOSTANI book was made of very fine colored rice paper which came from a Japanese calendar I received each New Year from a friend in Tokyo. The small glass beads came from my grandmothers stash of beads and buttons, they were over 100 years old when I used them. A moon shaped button became a sikh crescent. Part of the project was to use what one already had to make the book–nothing bought, nothing prefab. You can see the big stitches made using regular binders thread. The title came form an incomplete set of the 1910 edition of the ‘Encyclopaedia Britannica’ that I owned
(the correct spelling!)
Opening-I chose the photos, without text, on an entry about India. The ‘Encyclopaedia’ was printed on very fine paper, like a thinner version of the printed Japanese rice paper.
I was trying to use a new form for this book, a small book that would open into something larger.
4th opening–the book fully opened (or is it) to show 5 majestic examples of Indian architecture. I created the random ink patterns around each picture, my imprint. The blackness of the ink stood out from the greyed images held within.
Central image–the Taj Mahal–of course!
A Tower image surrounded by a fake sanskrit pattern I devised
In the border, a garland pattern which could have been used to adorn the massive columns in the picture.
Beneath each picture is a hidden text describing the buildings illustrated on the overleaf.
Each is named again.
More quick ink drawing around the title for each illustrated building–hidden away.
To finish the book, I made a small sheath in another patterned rice paper. The gray and white pattern relates, in my mind, to the photos held within. The paper was so tactile and the format a nice surprise. To sit quietly, cutting and drawing, gluing and stitching did allow my mind to flow over a number of ideas and images that I would use later in my other artwork. My hands were exercised as well as my eye. Book making has been a great pleasure
in times when other projects were not flowing or a big idea was just to much to pursue.
