The Hidden Life of Books

The book is a simple yet complex idea that has profound influence on culture, society, and religion that transcends time and civilization. The book is a platform or foundation for the studies of Humanities because it has so much power on the course of the human life. The impact of books, and the knowledge contained dictates human history, influences religious and political policy, supports the powerful and inspires the repressed. In early book creation the relationship between word and image was essential. The word spoke to the privileged, the educated and the image informed the poor and illiterate, yet both groups needed books to guide their lives. I grew up with books; my mother was a voracious reader, and raised her children to cherish books. The book is a living memoir, a repository of memory and meaning that goes beyond the story that lay within. My work captures the physical body of the book as if it is a living figure with a spine, the leather cover is skin, and the pages flesh. The physical traits reflect the life of the book, both good and bad, exposing bumps, bruises, withering age, or a child’s scribble. How often have you found a special memento in the pages of a book that floods your senses with memories?