I am drawn to the simple visual language we use to describe the complex systems that sustain and surround us. I print books in an attempt to explore this imagery, to pair it with text in appropriate but unexpected ways. I hope that these books force a new consideration of these familiar systems of images and text.

I work with books because this format allows for personal interaction with the work that is impossible when viewing a single surface. A book must be viewed spread by spread, and consequently I am able to guide the viewer through the piece in my own way, pacing their experience with folded pages, layered imagery and text. When choosing to work in book form, an artist is making an inherent choice to make work that is (at least in part) about the book form; about information, its organization and interpretation, about language and its role as a recording/reference system, about the way we encapsulate information to present it in simplified form.

My work up until this point has orbited the concept of representing information that is hidden or buried. To this end, I have used imagery including anatomical charts, the convention of the ‘cutaway view’ or cross section, and structural elements such as layered pages, translucent papers and unusual folds that force the viewer to actively explore the book.

Sarah Bryant
Big Jump Press