Unique artist book; sculpted artist made paper, 2.5″ x 17.5†x 9â€. $675.
Edition/unique version, sculpted artist made paper, 2†x 10.5†x 9â€. $650.
Artist made paper, 10†x 9†x 5â€. Unique book. $775.
Statement
How could a book, something so inherently human made, appear instead as an unusual form of nature? Could it seem to be created out in the wilderness without traditional tools and materials? The Wild Book and the Tree and Leaf Texts series explore this idea. The origins of the sculptural books are interconnected with the environmental installations I build by combining natural and industrial refuse.
Like the elements in my installations, the books are improvisations on the structures of plant and animal life. Keeping in mind the color, textures, and forms I wish to extrapolate from nature, I develop handmade paper from abaca fiber and pigments to form my books. Pages are composites of leaves, fern parts, insect antennae, branches, skins, fins and wings. Some have leafy pages and burst with sprouts and tendrils, caught in the midst of growing. They are collections of my own hybrids of nature.
Biography
Judy Hoffman constructs dynamic environmental installations. Combining disparate elements of industrial refuse and natural debris she creates quirky universes that teeter between chaos and order. Hoffman brings a wildness to manmade spaces that explores themes of birth, decay, waste, and regeneration. Interconnected with the installations are her artist books, the Wild Book, Tree and Leaf Text series. They are improvisations on the structures of plant and animal life sculpted from handmade paper. Hoffman’s exhibition and site specific installation venues in New York City include Wave Hill, Ceres Gallery, Nutureart, Proteus Gowanus, Kentler International Drawing Center and the Nathan Cummings Foundation; Rutgers and Jersey City Universities, New Jersey; Mary Grove College, Detroit; and the Bienalle Bonn/Frauen Museum and Kunstler Forum in Bonn, Germany. Articles and reviews include Sculpture Magazine, The Village Voice, The New York Times, NY Arts, Hand Papermaking, Umbrella, and The General Anzeiger (Bonn, Germany). She is a recipient of an anniversary artist grant from Women’s Studio Workshop. Her artist books are in the special collections at Yale University, Rhode Island School of Design and Long Island University libraries, the Brooklyn Museum, the Alan Chasnanoff Bookworks Collection, and the Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry. Hoffman attended the New York Studio School and received her B.A. from Grinnell College. Ms. Hoffman lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. An ardent recycler she searches garbage cans and dumpsters for her art materials and composts food waste in her garden.
