Author: Insiya Dhatt

Artist Statement I think that the Root of the Wind is Water speaks to the inherent interconnection of environmental elements. Today, as our planet experiences increasing climate instability, Dickinson’s message is a relevant reminder to honor and protect our environment.…

Artist Statement Typically, paper-engineered structures are built into books that require total collapse. In A Meeting of Mutualists the structures are built into shallow boxes that DON’T require total collapse and therefore allow for novel exploration of engineering parameters. The…

Artist Statement I’ve been thinking a lot about appropriation, and how materials, techniques, and imagery hold cultural weight. I’m fascinated by the New Age to white supremacy pipeline, and how casual appropriation can push our boundaries. Tapping into my own…

Artist Statement: Ul’nigid’ is a poetic narrative and visual representation of memories about my maternal Grandmother; she was a medicine-woman, a basket-weaver, and a fluent speaker of the Cherokee language. Ul’nigid’ was uniquely designed to represent her being, and each…

Artist Statement The imagery in Vanishing revolves around insects currently considered threatened or endangered. They are part of the insect apocalypse. Threats to their survival include habitat loss and fragmentation, invasion of non-native species, pesticide application, and global warming.The poems…

Artist Statement My artist books portray the reality of change rather than a romanticized idea of the past, and display the economic, technological, and social changes that reshape urban and rural landscapes. Many of my books portray the world of…

Artist Statement One reading the text could interpret it to be the mocking cry of a child saying “Catch me if you can.” But in another reading one could find undertones social justice concerns. We used the colophon to provide…

Artist Statement We Never Must Quit is a letterpress print in an edition of 14 created with handmade paper and ink. This print was created for 2022, the 50th anniversary of Title IX in honor of Patsy Takemoto Mink and…

Artist Statement Rust as a metaphor for aging. Book text:Coarse, pitted spikes, cables,chains welded, water-logged,changing, deteriorating, weakenedpulled from the sea barnacle-bound.Iron-red burnt sienna patina,intricate textures exposed,torn joints, corroded bones,oxidized, ossified, brittle break,out of practice forgotten stepsthe stage no longer welcomes.…

Artist Statement During an artist residency in the French Alps, invited by the Public library of the Département des Hautes-Alpes in 2013, I spend three months studying landscape, costume, architecture, animals, plants, history of the region. I did many sketches…

Artist Statement Preserving Humanity is a tribute to the art of book conservation – the preservation of books as physical objects and as vessels of the human record. The title is inspired by the lecture that opened the 1988 exhibition…

Artist Statement Cora is an artist book that focuses on themes of identity, ancestry, generational trauma, and personal narrative. It was born from two years of chronicling family history and processing family archives. The artist uses these materials and stories…

Artist Statement I am particularly drawn to repurpose materials, in an effort to be more sustainable in my art practice, as well as to encourage others to find creative uses for scrap/excess materials. I enjoy creative re-use, and hope that…

FOBA 2022 Faculty/Staff Exhibit Artist Statement I created this collage in honor of my mom, Jeanie. She encouraged me to pursue art at a young age, and to keep at it. It includes a few of the papers she created,…

Artist Statement The theme for FOBA’s last challenge project was “Where your heart resides”. This inspired the text I wrote and calligraphed in this book. The circles subtly repeated represent the world, travel, and the notion from the T.S. Eliot…

Artist Statement This book began with drawings twisted (literally) in string that established a collaborative landscape realized over two years of conversation and trust. Helen Hiebert created watermarked illustrations in an artist-made cotton/abaca paper, and Karen Kunc responded by producing…

Artist Statement A Natural History of the most remarkable Quadrupeds, Birds, Fishes, Serpents, Reptiles and Insects by Mrs. Mary Trimmer. Chiswick: C. and C. Whittingham, 1826. Volume 1 of 2. I’ve been binding antiquarian books in the various structures I…

Artist Statement Tensile weaves together a 19th century poem of seduction by Percy Bysshe Shelley, with current research on bisphenol contamination in our environment and bodies, gathered by biologist Alyce DeMarais. Used to manufacture plastics and resins for food and…

Artist Statement Circle is as much about the geometric shape as it is about extending the life of paper—giving paper a new step in the circle of its life. Book pages, sheet music, maps, notebook paper, magazine, catalog and ledger…

Artist Statement Seasons I – Summer is a flag book created to celebrate the abundance of flowers and nature that is alive around us. Materials & Technique The illustrations are hand-drawn, then imported into a computer drawing program, colored, and…

Artist Statement This book examines the growth cycle of an Opuntia Cactus from my garden. The leaves of the book are the end cycle of Opuntia pads that decayed on the plant. The book spine is a trunk section of…

Artist Statement Soft books, children’s books for pre-readers, offer comforting, tactile interactions. Soft Book, geared for adults, invites both a reading experience and a visual/tactile one. Raised cross stitches create each letter of single-syllable words to reveal insights about the…

Artist Statement Pangolin Pandemic is about two stories scaled into one. The imagery shows the life of a pangolin while it is being poached; alive, curled up in defense, killed, hung up, and then descaled while also telling a story…

Artist Statement With the decline of native pollinators and honey bees over the past decade, I interpreted the importance and variety of native pollinators and how our small actions can help boost populations on a local level. The hive frame…

Artist Statement Emma is part of an on-going exploration for a series of books with some potential overlap of themes examining the lives of women illustrated, in part, using antique and vintage photographs from my vast collection. My collection begins…

Artist Statement Casey Newman is a naturalist and artist who incorporates natural materials into her work, creating a unique way to connect with the beauty of nature. She prints leaves onto paper and fabric using only the natural pigments found…

Artist Statement This is for Bill Stewart, thoughtful & terrific Tramp, who experienced the WOW! of artist’s books and never looked back. With his vibrant & vital VAMP, Vicky (best of partners), he shared that WOW! with many. Materials &…

Artist Statement Collaboration with Wilson Allen. Remote looks at the shared experience of self-isolating and working remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic by journaling and mapping our everyday experiences. These daily activities create vignettes or scenes that show how common experiences…

Artist Statement Physica is a series of 9 artists’ book works, each focusing on one of the 9 sections in the Hildegard von Bingen’s Physica, as translated from Latin to English by by Priscilla Throop. Materials & Technique: Stones was…