Folding books of journeys

Over the last 10 years I have been involved with ‘Open Books’ created in Wales by artist Mary Husted and involving artists from 5 continents.

So far I have made five folding books, all involved with journeys. The books unfold to present episodic drawings that are up to 3 metres long. In 2012 the first book was involved with a 24 hour train journey from Wales to Italy, another book has mapped a cycle route.

Open Books is a creative collaboration between Visual artists, started by Mary Husted in Wales in 2011, enabling cultural exchange opportunities, exhibitions, talks, seminars, workshops in China, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, India, USA and Malaysia from 2012 - 2021.

The Chinese Folding Book is central to Open Books. By using the same format artists from different traditions have found common ground in a global, geographically shrinking world. The books can be read in Western Codex form, or in the traditional Chinese way or as sculptural objects - they offer scope for innovative practice.