To Have and to Hold, an artist’s book in my Grief Books series, is in The Illustrated Accordion exhibition at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center!
The Illustrated Accordion
February 7 – March 21, 2025
Kalamazoo Book Arts Center Gallery
In-person Reception: March 7, 2025 from 5-8 pm
To Have and to Hold, 2024
4-panel accordion artist’s book with acrylic paper marbling, linen thread, oak twigs, #1/1
7″h x 5″w x 1″d – closed
7″h x 20″l x 1″d – open
While this accordion structure seems simple, the 2-sided marbling produces a complicated dichotomy. The stitching enhances the duality creating 2 separate yet equal visual narratives. The twigs add a little intrigue. Do they provide support, apply pressure, or create a balance?
The book title sets up a marital expectation. Beyond wedding vows, the historical marriage of paper marbling and book arts is in play. The conceptualization can also be expanded to the connections and contrasts between humans and nature, manipulated and inherent.
Each year the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center (KBAC) sponsors a non-juried exhibition – The Illustrated Accordion, showing in the KBAC Gallery in spring.
The Illustrated Accordion exhibition focuses on books created in the accordion form. The structure of an accordion book is simple: a long piece of paper is folded into pages that can be read like a book or spread open and displayed like a banner. Featuring works of book artists from all over the world, the books in this exhibit take this book form to a new level. Every book that has been entered in previous Illustrated Accordion exhibits are available to view through KBAC website.
More info HERE 
Kalamazoo Book Arts Center Gallery
Park Trades Center, Suite 103A
326 W. Kalamazoo Avenue
Kalamazoo, MI 49007