Collaboration with Gabby Cooksey



Wooden panel covered in dark green buffalo skin with back-pared onlays cut from buffalo skin in berry and various shades of handmade paper. Onlays embellished with embroidery, paint and colored pencil. Tattooed undyed goatskin mounted to museum board with edges painted black and embellished with embroidered buffalo skin and handmade papers. Tattoo pieces onlaid to the surface of the panel.

61cm x 51cm x 3.2cm - Completed in 2024

• Guild of Book Workers Traveling Exhibit: Night Circus (2024-2026)
  
North Bennet Street School, Boston, MA
Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
Cary Graphic Arts Collections, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
Old Capital Museum, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
Baylor Libraries, Baylor University, Waco, TX

Artist Statement

Women were once delegated to a small sector of the binding process until a few dared to step outside this prescribed realm. To capture the spirit of these trailblazing women and working within the theme of ‘Night Circus’ we choose to create a vintage circus inspired poster using the tattooed lady as our star. Tattooed women worked in circuses and sideshows at the turn of the 20th century to transgress the gender norms of the Victorian Era. Around the same time, binders and designers such as Sybil Pye, Katherine Adams, and Rose Adler began to make waves in the field. Since then, many talented women have continued to shape the landscape of the field, making it possible for us to pursue our own passions and interests. For our tattooed lady, we wanted to pay homage to the women who inspire us by covering her body with imagery from their work along with tools of the trade.