Julie Dodd
Ahead of this weekend’s Liverpool Book Art Fair at Liverpool Central Library we’re bringing you a series of to-the-point interviews with some of the most exciting artists.
Book Art can be an ambiguous term at the best of times, so put simply, we wanted to find out what it means to the artists who make it. Julie Dodd, works with nature, and with paper, so Liverpool Book Art Fair was the perfect opportunity for her to find a creative. As well as exhibiting and selling work, Julie Dodd will be running workshops, creating altered books for anyone open to discovering the joy of creating their own Book Art.
Read her interview here, but more importantly, buy her work here, on Saturday & Sunday, 8th & 9th of July 2017 :
What is book art for you?
For me book art is a way of communicating my ideas through an art form that encourages physical interaction. I create books, alter books and create book sculptures.I don’t use words but I do look at content. I am interested in enhancing the experience of the book so when I’m creating books I primarily think what subject I want to highlight, how the book can be aesthetically pleasing and how interaction with it as an object can occur.
Recycling materials is a major part of my art practice. I am interested in protecting and conserving our world so I alter books as way of recycling and bringing new life to books.
I don’t cut up books of get value or what I consider to be great works, books that should be treasured for future generations. I cut up books that are either so distressed that they are to be thrown away or I use paperback books that I find at jumble sales, charity shops etc. I purely use the book as a material to sculpt from rarely considering it’s contents, instead I look at it’s size, shade and thickness.
Why did you decide to exhibit at Liverpool’s fair?
I have exhibited at the Liverpool fair before. Showing work in this lovely building with a great selection of artists is always a pleasure and I will be running a workshop on Saturday to create altered books from old paperbacks.
There are some examples here
What are you bringing to Liverpool Book Art Fair?
I am mainly bringing altered books and book sculptures along with me.
Do you ever work outside of the form of books, and if so, how?
I focus most of my work on environmental issues, using my art practice as a platform to reflect concerns of our environmental responsibility, recycling discarded materials to produce a response, imitating nature artificially to emphasis man’s impact on our planet. My artwork is inspired by pattern and shape found in nature and microscopic images from the natural world which I use in a repetitive manner within each work. I work in multiples to mimic life, growth and regeneration.
I am installation artist, paper sculptor, book artist and printmaker.
www.juliedodd.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/juliedoddartist
