Farewell, My Orange

Farewell, My Orange
Section-sewn book with exposed and embellished spine in box

I made this book for BiblioArt 2019. A title is drawn from a hat at Blarney Books and Art, the Port Fairy bookshop that hosts the annual exhibition.

When I was given my book title to work with I was greatly amused by its synchronicity: orange is my favourite colour. Initially I planned to make a work based solely on the colour itself. However, my book art object took on a life of its own, and the more time I spent making it the more it insisted on becoming a reflection of Iwaki Kei’s story. My use of dictionary and encyclopedia paper represents the characters’ navigation of new language and culture, just as the mess of spine binding material on one side – difficulty and challenge – is countered by clean, open, white pages, allowing a new life of optimism to be written.

Somerset paper, paper string, hemp cord, linen thread, fabric
Box measures 22.2 x 22.5 x 11.5 cm