Amethyst Byrne
"Books can not be killed by fire.people die,but books never die. No man and I forced an abolish memory"
Although books are essentially nothing more than ink and paper, the thought of damaging them is abhorrent. Watching the ideas within disappear while the paper turns to ash and the covers blacken and curl. But the memories of the words remain.
Books have long been a source of inspiration to artists since the time of engraving words into stone, the materials I use , such as plaster, echoes back to this prehistory.
My work draws on the books I engage with to evoke a memory of place,the sense of abandonment, whereby the books no longer have home,a place or a purpose. Using the techniques of casting I recreate the books and give them a new life,placing them in a home, "the library of the abandoned".
Although books are essentially nothing more than ink and paper, the thought of damaging them is abhorrent. Watching the ideas within disappear while the paper turns to ash and the covers blacken and curl. But the memories of the words remain.
Books have long been a source of inspiration to artists since the time of engraving words into stone, the materials I use , such as plaster, echoes back to this prehistory.
My work draws on the books I engage with to evoke a memory of place,the sense of abandonment, whereby the books no longer have home,a place or a purpose. Using the techniques of casting I recreate the books and give them a new life,placing them in a home, "the library of the abandoned".