Visit UAF’s Rasmuson Library to see the latest Northwoods Book Arts Guild display of Artist Books. In “Focus on Fiber,” the books reflect the artists’ life-long exploration of fiber arts and more recently, book arts. Here is the descriptive artists’ statement by Lois Henderson and Laurel Herbeck:
” The history of fiber production precedes the advent of writing and books by some 30,000 years. As with other traditional crafts that have been replaced by mechanization to reduce cost, and increase speed and distribution, fiber production and book making have been revived as handcraft and are now elevated to the status of art forms. It is no surprise that fiber artists should bring their knowledge and love of fiber to their artist books. These books contain handspun paper and yarns, hand-made paper, fused silk paper, knitted fabric, and woven tapestries. They are embellished with twigs, metal foils, beads, buttons, Sari thread, silkworm cocoons, polymer clay “looms”, linen, and silk threads. There is still in many of us an innate desire (if not need) to create something beautiful, visual, and tactile. As the world is increasingly industrial, electronic, digital, and virtual, the human relationship with fiber continues to fascinate, captivate our imagination, and inspire our work.”
