My recent work centers around the book, both as a form in which to work and physically, as a support for painting and mixed media. Over the past six years I have made and bound unique books and multiples and also worked on mass-produced books using acrylic, graphite and mixed media to create wall-hung “prepared books.” These may be single books or larger pieces composed of a grid of four or more books.
I find the book form endlessly inspiring. A book is a real working tool and its history as an object in the world is always present in my mind as I work. The book has been reinvented many times, and this encourages me to re-work the old structures and try out new ones.
The way books work / the way I work books:
Multiple pages are opportunities for serial imagery, replacing the usual narrative. Open books reveal, exposing what might be hidden within closed covers. Small notebooks can be held in the hand and experienced individually, then passed to other hands. The large grid pieces evolved from my years of being a painter with an interest in — and a habit of thinking about — large wall pieces. I want to examine the form of books in series—my starting point might be an encyclopedia, and then work with and against a theme through multiple spread open books. In the grids I want the freedom to show everything at once.
Zea Morvitz
March, 2007