Susan Porteous

I recently discovered the bookish artworks of Susan Porteous and spoke with her about the inspiration and techniques behind her work:

Susan, thanks for taking time to answer a few questions about your artwork, which is stunning. How did you come to use books in your art? I originally came to use books in my artwork as a way to sequence images. I liked the fact that you could only view a small part of the whole at any one time. It also added an intimacy, the books could usually be held in the palm of the hand, and in fact, often required the viewer to do so. Later, as I became more interested in words than images the book became a great way to present texts while adding an extra layer of meaning through the shape, size, and use of materials. There was also the opportunity to create rhythm through the turning of the page and the breaking up and reordering of the original text.

What is the inspiration behind some of your exhibition pieces, specifically Thirtytwo Paperbacks, Encyclopedic, Extrovert and Introvert and Derivations? My explorations into the sculptural book form came during a time when I was reading a lot of art theory and, being frustrated by such, decided to take a book of abstracts for artists’ lectures cut it up and bind the small pieces together into a long, totally unreadable book form, [Caterpillar, 2007]. After this I was curious as to what other forms I could create and began experimenting with by manipulating bindings and pushing the form to where it no longer followed the traditional book structure.

Derivations started as an attempt to see if I could manipulate the traditional technique of binding over cords to make something less rigid and more flowing and expressive in its nature. I began binding without pre-punching holes in the signatures and allowed the sewing to meander up and down the spine as I went along. The cords were simply several strands of the binding thread bundled together, which allowed me to switch between colors and to add or subtract from these bundles to effect a change in thickness. The paper I used was salvaged from an old thesaurus and during the process of folding the signatures I noticed the word derivations and this seemed fitting to become my first page and title for the piece.

Extrovert and Introvert are two books that are opposite in nature; Extrovert is always open and Introvert is always closed. Both are bound in a continuous circular form using Coptic stitch, but the difference of whether the binding is on the inside or the outside changes the nature of the book. I also made the pages circular, which resulted in the books being a toroid shape, and influenced my decision to use geometry textbooks as the page material.

What is your technique used for manipulating the books into fluid shapes, circles and waves? After finding a complete set of The World Book Encyclopedia, I began by cutting the pages of the first book, A, into strips, and preparing signatures. Not being sure how long this book would end up I started with cords about 40ft long, which I strung up to the ceiling to create a mock sewing frame and to prevent tangling, and began binding. Of course, I made things a little more complicated for myself by deciding to vary the height of the strips so that the book would gradually get thicker and thinner as you traveled along its length. This created a lot of extra work in cutting down the original books and in preparing the signatures but gives the book an organic feel that would not have been present without the extra work. Anyway, a few months and 25 feet later, after I no longer had any space to work on my desk, I finished binding the last of the Z’s and breathed a huge sigh of relieve before deciding that I should also bind the reference book, because how else were people going to know where to find certain information? I should probably add that trying to move and position this book is somewhat akin to trying to manipulate a giant cobra that just wants to go slivering across the floor in search of food.

Where can we see more of your work? My website www.susanporteous.net is probably the best place for people to see my work if you can’t get to see it in an exhibition. Information about any upcoming exhibitions is always posted in the news section of my website. A couple of my pieces are included in a recent publication by Lark Books, 500 Handmade Books, along a lot of wonderful books by other artists. I also have pieces in a few public collections, namely the Library Collection at the Tate Britain, the Mandeville Special Collections Library at University of California, San Diego, and Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection in John M Flaxman Library at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Thank you Susan!

PS: If you like this interview, please leave a comment and let me know. Do you like the shorter blog posts? Did you like this long one? Thanks!

Visit Susan Porteous online