BOOK ARTS

I made my first photobook in the summer of 1989, while studying photography at RISD as a rising junior in college. For a documentary class, I spent the summer photographing autistic children at a center in Providence. For my final project, I created a handmade book in which form and content merged—a tactile, low-tech object with hand-written text and tipped-in silver gelatin prints. Over the decades, the book has traveled with me, unseen and nearly forgotten—until recently. In a twist I could never have imagined, my daughter, who now models for much of my work, works full-time with autistic children.

I’ve continued to explore the book as an artistic form.

Stories Within

A growing collection of hand-crafted scrolls created in preparation for my residency as the Polly Thayer Starr Visiting Studio Artist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Inspired by The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandtexhibition, which features scrolls—one of the oldest forms of bookmaking used to preserve stories, histories, and memories—these works explore the scroll as both an artistic form and a vessel for personal narrative.

The story of Esther is one of revelation and concealment, identity and courage. Each scroll records an individual story, gesture, or reflection, revealing the many ways memories and experiences can be preserved through image, text, and material. Together, they demonstrate the forms, materials, and possibilities that visitors can explore while creating their own scrolls during Open Studio.

Tu Ke Bivas Artist Book - Winner of the 2025 Isaac Anolic Jewish Book Arts Award

Created: Summer 2025
Measurements: 9 x 12 x 1.5 inches

Limited Edition artist book

Tu Ke Bivas Artist Book - Before & After

Before : A Mock Up

In the summer of 2022, two years before the book was made, I started experimenting with the book form. A workshop, The Handmade Artist’s Book: Envisioning Form & Content with Susan kae Grant at Santa Fe Workshops in Santa Fe, NM helped me begin to envision the book even before the images were completed.

After: A Prospectus to the Book

Created: Summer 2025

Weeks after completing the artist book, I realized that I needed to make a prospectus. Designed as a pamphlet and incorporating one gatefold page, it mimics the feel and look of the book.

Handmade Books: Fundamentals of Bookbinding

Books Created: Summer 2022
Measurements:

Experimenting with the book form, signatures and stitching with Erin Fletcher at the North Bennet Street School, Boston, MA.

Seeing You, Seeing Me Accordion Book

Created: Winter 2022
Measurement:

Seeing You, Seeing Me is a portfolio of portraits and still lifes inspired by Vermeer. For this accordion book, I have taken the still lifes and sequenced them to tell their own story. (More about the portfolio and complete set of images can be found in my portfolio tab.)

Today I’m Gonna Have a Good Day:
A Day at the Groden Center, Providence, Rhode Island

Created: Summer 1989
Measurements:
Marbleized Paper with matching slipcover encase the story of several autistic children.