Paper for dessert

One of the undeniable perks of working part time at Paper Hammer is the wonderful stack of art and design books that we sell that I get to flip through. 

Yesterday I browsed the catalog for a 2009 exhibition at Bellevue Art Museum called The Book Borrowers: Contemporary Artists Transforming the Book.  There were three artists that left me just a little bit breathless: Georgia Russell, Jacqueline Rush Lee and Guy Laramée.  Just a few pictures to show you what I mean.  First, Scottish artist Georgia Russell:

Le Bleu du Ciel

De Baudelaire au Surrealisme

Psychologie

 Her little book monster creatures are so pathetic and touching, paper tendrils reaching ineffectually.  Poor things, so exposed after having been thoroughly dissected.  I'm struck by how much I perceive vulnerability in her objects.  It moves me even more than their obvious beauty. 

Now for the Hawaiian artist Jacqueline Rush Lee:

Lorem Ipsum II

Inside Out

Flutter

Petrified Book

 So geological, so massive, so unabashedly decorative (and I use this word as a compliment).

Canadian Guy Laramée:

(Tectonique 4) Toutes les idées se ressemblent

Petra

I love that he leaves the book forms so obvious.  YUM.