Books and objects

A pill bottle lies on its side. Scattered near it are capsules with containing tiny books. There is a piece of paper next to the pill bottle that looks like an information insert from a pharmaceutical.

I like to make books and book-like objects. And sometimes I just like to make objects.

The Paper Chipmunk Press is my bookmaking alter ego.

A miniature pill bottle containing capsules with miniature books inside them. A handmade book titled Superstition. A hand mirror is on the cover.A page spread in a hand-bound book. One side says, “I never leave the house without checking my horoscope first.” It shows a horoscope underneath advising Aries to avoid cars, trains, and airplanes and to be sure to look both ways before crossing streets. The other page says, ”But some days I just don’t leave the house.” It shows a calendar page for Friday the 13th. A page spread in a handmade book. It says I get nervous whenI pick up a mirror. My fingers get shaky. Pictured next to the text is the back of a hand mirror.A page spread in a handmade book. It says I get nervous when I pick up a mirror. My fingers get shaky. Pictured next to the text is a broken hand mirror.A page spread in a handmade book. It says “I don’t think I’m all that superstitious.” Next to the text is a picture of a wishbone.A page spread in a handbound book. The text says “But you can never be too certain of things, can you?” Next to the text is a picture of a black cat. The cover of a handmade book with a label that says Radio Waves and Birdsong, Ellen Golla. The label shows two birds flying in the sky. An open book with pages made from layered transparencies showing birds and wavy lines suggesting radio waves. A small papier mache bed sits in front of an open handmade book. Under the bed is papier mache designed to look like sharks circling the bed in the ocean. The book has a window cut out in it and text that says Be careful what you take to bed with you. The cover of a small handmade book. It says You’re not paranoid—You are being watched. An open flag book full of eyes and warning signs that you are being watched by security cameras. An altered handmade book with a papier mache tree inside an opening cut into the pages. There is a tiny nest with eggs on one of the branches. Behind the tree are fragments of text from a story about a cat climbing a tree. A round handmade book in a petri dish. The page, which looks like a petri dish culture, says “Better yet, buy disinfectant and use it liberally.”A handmade round book that fits inside a petri dish. The pages are made to look like petri dish cultures. The text on this page says, “Forget the sanitizer, and you’ll be sorry.”A round handmade book inside a petri dish. The pages are meant to look like biological specimens. The text says Stay away from that doorknob. A 7 Day pill organizer. Instead of pills inside each compartment, there are tiny books meant to look like little black planner books. A closeup of a tiny book whose pages are taken from cut up pharmaceutical inserts. There are fragments of statements about anxiety.A view of a small but thick handmade sketchbook covered with silk book cloth. A cover of a book that is meant to look like a child’s board book. The title printed on the cover says A Board Book for Bored Children. Underneath the title is a picture of a pile of matches. A fanned-out view showing pages from a handmade book that is designed to look like a child’s board book. The pages show dangerous things like a plastic bag and a box knife. A handmade book made to look like a children’s board book. It is open to a spread showing a picture of a box cutting knife.A view of a page of a book that is designed to look like a child’s board book. It shows a photo of a fork being put into an electrical outlet.A dollhouse-sized candy counter display. On the shelves behind the plastic that is meant to look like glass, are platters full of colorful pills and capsules, arranged to look like candies and treats. The title of the piece is called Treats for the Modern Dollhouse Family. The cover of a tunnel book that is called “Tunnel Book.” The title is layered over an image of a London Underground tunnel. The interior view of a tunnel book that features a view of a London Underground tunnel. A small handmade book. The cover says Poison with a skull and crossbones.A spread in a small handmade book. There are images of warning labels for pill bottles. The text says Not all harmful side effects come from the medicine cabinet.A spread in a small handmade book that says Sometimes those around us are the cause of toxic reactions.A two-page spread in a small handmade book. It shows capsules from a pill bottle and the words, “We ingest their venom as from capsules consumed. Their words and deeds are bitter crystals that release in the gut.”A two-page spread in a miniature handmade book. It shows a syringe with a red substance dripping from the needle. The text says, “They drip their malice into our veins, overpowering our natural defenses with a jagged sting.A two page spread in a small handmade book. It shows a fuzzy black human silhouette in front of a pair of lungs. The text says, ”They squeeze air from our lungs and make our hearts race.”A two-page spread in a handmade miniature book. On one side is a pill bottle with silhouettes of people inside it. The label says poison. On the other page is a silhouette of a person lounging on top of the medicine bottle cap. The text says, “Some people are poison.”

Several years ago I was invited to submit an artist’s page for inclusion in the journal The Blue Notebook, which is published by the Centre for Print Research at UWE Bristol. It consisted of the text from the “information insert” in the bottles of Codex capsules. You can see it here.