Julie Chen is a groundbreaking innovator in the growing field of the artist’s book. Her works defy traditional definitions of bookmaking, combining original works of poetry and three-dimensional paper techniques to stunning effect. Spark visits her in the studio and classroom and accompanies her on the hunt at Flax for materials for her latest work.
Inexplicably drawn to the book art form after completing a degree in printmaking, Chen entered the book arts program at Mills College in 1984 with no formal training and not a single book project in her portfolio. Initially intrigued by the language, the equipment and the materials, she worked diligently to learn the tricks of the craft. Today, Chen’s books are considered exceptional for their craft and quality. Chen regularly gives lectures on bookmaking and teaches workshops in cities across the nation.
The Spark episode “Works on Paper” gives you a chance to survey the startling variety of Julie Chen’s books — constructed as shells, eggs and boxes or designed as playful sculptures meant to be assembled. Each one holds embedded messages to be discovered and journeys to be taken, in form and text. Her experimentation has brought her to her newest work, “Personal Paradigm,” a game the readers play by moving pieces and recording their actions in a logbook.
Chen works like a conceptual artist, allowing an idea to determine its form and content. Her book forms reflect the variety of concepts that fascinate her, including language, history, memory and time. Every element — structure, shape, color, material — is in symbiotic relationship with the concept. To read one of Chen’s books is to engage with a complete, discrete experience that is simultaneously literary and sculptural.
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