Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord is a book artist whose work has been exhibited and collected across the United States. Born in Rahway, New Jersey in 1951, she now lives and works in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Her exquisite Spirit Book Series has a distinctly mythic quality, evoking the spirit of stories told for centuries in both oral and printed forms.
"The Spirit Books bring together my love of the book and my response to the natural world that we see and the invisible one that lies behind it," the artist writes. "...I feel a deep connection to older powers as I gather twigs, branches, vines, and roots. Using them to cradle books, I link them to the longstanding tradition of books as testaments of faith and belief."
The book pictured in the paragraph above, for example is called Sacred Speaker. The name "refers to the fan shape, and the original use of folding fans in Japan -- for communication with the gods."
The book below is Hope Offering. "The hawthorn is a symbol of hope. In Ireland and Wales, women hang bits of cloth on branches near sacred wells, a custom that was originally an offering to the goddess. Here the hawthorn is embellished with beads and seed pods from the rue plant. Rue is the symbol of all good things at weddings in Lithuania."
In addition to creating these one-of-a-kind books, Gaylord established Notan Press in 1990. The name of the press is taken from the Japanese design principle based on the interaction of dark (no) and light (tan). "I first encountered the concept in a design class with Brenda Lowen- Siegel," she explains. "I was intrigued. I came to see the world in terms of notan when I took a weekend workshop with artist/calligrapher Jenny Groat. For Jenny, notan extended beyond the page and into life. From her experience with Zen Buddhism and Jungian analysis, she saw notan as more than a design principle; it spoke to her of the importance of acknowledging and balancing light and dark, positive and negative, in all aspects of life. The workshop with Jenny occurred in the year that had brought the death of my mother and the birth of my first child. Her ideas touched me deeply and I, too, came to embrace this view."
To see more of this amazing artist's work, visit the Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord website.
Oh my. Hope Offering is especially wonderful.
Posted by: Grey | March 29, 2007 at 07:25 AM
Hi Midori,
Thank you for this! Such exquisite and moving work. I've wanted to make a spirit doll for the longest time, but couldn't decide upon materials. Then, while removing an old vine from our garden, I saw her form in one of the branches! Now I can't stop collecting twigs, branches, seeds...lol, and my work table is piled high.
Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord's books completely inspiring!
hugs,
Meg F.
Posted by: Meg Fox | March 29, 2007 at 11:32 AM
They are really beautiful and now as spring seems to be announcing itself, it seems like everywhere I look in the gardens there are books.
Posted by: Midori | March 29, 2007 at 04:34 PM