Big Ideas, Little Art

My favorite diminutive book artist, Jody Williams, has finally launched her own web site. Jody is fairly tiny herself, but the diminutive adjective mostly refers to the scale in which she works. Small is the first thing you notice about her books and boxes, but I don't think it's the most important thing in what she does. For me, it's her extraordinary ability to combine text, visual images and structure into a conceptual whole that makes her one of my favorite book artists.
Some of my personal favorites from her gallery (photos used by permission):

Science Experiments (1997)

Science Experiments is designed to be similar to the 3 boards so many of us set up for our 7th grade science projects. But this book captures with gentle humor the many unusual observations of the 5th grade class she observed.

Condensed Creatures (2000)

An accordion permanently attached to the inside of this tiny, tiny box (1 1/2 inches!!) and printed with creatures from her own imagination. The yellow and white check paper on the outside began life as chiyogami from Japan, but Jody ran it through her etching press to add letters and symbols, making it even more integral to the content in the box.

Some Specimens (2005)

Perhaps my favorite of all her books. Some Specimens contains sketches, poems and an actual sea shell from her trip to Ireland in 2005. Yes, the book is only 2 3/4" by 2 1/4" but she has managed to encapsulate the tiniest shells imaginable in the cover of the book. (Her secret is microscope slide covers.)

Jody was the first person to receive the Minnesota Book Artist Award this year (and deservedly so!) and for the occasion she actually wore a dress (I'm glad it was documented as I would never have really believed it.) She is currently on the faculty at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and has a loyal following of students who would take any class she came up with from her at MCBA. Thomas O'Sullivan has written a wonderful essay on her work...well worth reading!