Artist Profile: Jody Alexander

In the May/June 2018 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors, we were thrilled to profile Jody Alexander. Jody is an artist, a maker of books, a librarian, and a teacher. Her handmade books often evolve into unique installations and sculptures that celebrate the characters she imagines, her collections of inspiring bits, and storytelling.

Here’s a sneak peak . . .

Jody Alexander
Jody Alexander

Cloth Paper Scissors: Although repurposing and altering old/unwanted/unusable books goes back centuries, there are still people who are adamant about not touching books. As an artist and a librarian, what’s your response to this?

Jody: Even for me it is very subjective. Some books I would never touch. Others I’m ruthless about. As a librarian, I know that many library books have a life span and, in order to maintain a healthy collection, librarians need to weed out old, damaged, incorrect, and unused books. These books have expired and are no longer useful as originally intended. As an artist, I can give them a new and prolonged life. This ties into the concept of my KEEP project as well, which is to explore the different ways we keep things, thoughts, and emotions, or let them go.

Cloth Paper Scissors: Your installations can be quite large, whereas book art sometimes involves working much smaller. Do you have a preference for how large or small you work?

Jody: I love making books and creating a world in that intimate space. But, taking that story off the page and using items and arrangements to further the story is very fulfilling. I don’t think I will ever give up book making, whereas the space limitations of installations may become prohibitive someday.

Cloth Paper Scissors: Do you ever eavesdrop on people who are looking at your artwork in a gallery? If so, do you come away enlightened? Humored? Frustrated? Something else?

Jody: One of my favorite moments is when I was standing in Ruby B.’s room (one of Jody’s installation pieces shown in the May/June issue) and I was talking about her and a visitor turned to me and asked if I knew her. She thought she was real! I felt like I had succeeded. I have also had people tell me that my installations made them laugh or cry, sometimes both. Quite often I’m told that something reminds them of a great aunt, or grandmother, or a story or play. I love hearing all of these things. It means I’m taking the viewers outside of this physical space and engaging their memories, emotions, and imaginations.

Cloth Paper Scissors: How did Bibliomuse develop as a sub-series of KEEP? What do the Bibliocubes signify?

Jody: I created the KEEP–Modern Library series after I received a Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship. I was at a turning point in the studio and was ready to develop a new series, and there was to be an exhibit at the end of the fellowship. The pieces in the KEEP–Modern Library series were predominantly hand stitched, with the exception of a few of the later pieces of that series. I was ready to morph the series into a new subseries that utilized obsessive machine stitching as well as imagery appropriated from a variety of withdrawn library books. KEEP–Modern Library sourced imagery from one muse: a withdrawn library book entitled Records Management: A Collegiate Course in Filing Systems and Procedures. The Bibliomuse subseries embodied many of the same concepts but moved on with different imagery and stitching techniques. Both KEEP–Modern Library and Bibliomuse utilize book cloth from withdrawn library books.

The Bibliocubes were made to fit a specific shelf that was tucked in a corner of a gallery space. I wanted to make playful objects that would fit that particular shelf. We all ended up loving them so much that they were displayed on a pedestal in the opposite side of the room between two wall pieces.

Enjoy this sampling of Jody’s artwork.

“Essential”
“Hemingway and the Art of Awareness”
“Main Stacks”
“KEEP Modern Library Installation”
“Phinnea’s World” (Installation)
“Incredible Truth”

Learn more about Jody and see more of her art in the May/June 2018 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors.

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