Bound Together

In 2020 I was asked to hand bind a Caxton Club publication, Chicago by the Book, 101 publications that shaped the city and its image, that would be put up for auction along with several other Chicago artist bindings. As I am more of an artist than a binder, I decided to make an artist book using the commercially printed book pages. The first question I asked myself in the process is 'What shapes Chicago?' and the answer I gave myself was - the people. I decided to create portraits of 101 Chicagoans to pair with the 101 publications; but how to go about this during a worldwide pandemic? I began at work while the Art Institute of Chicago was shut down and very few people were working in the museum. I wandered the empty galleries looking for those who were still doing their jobs - keeping the museum running. Almost half the portraits in this book were taken at work. I learned the names of colleagues whom I’ve worked with for a decade or more, and the project united us on a personal level at a time when we have been told to keep our distance. I found that the part of this project that filled me with dread - approaching people for photos, ended up giving me the greatest joy. Now that the pandemic has been pronounced endemic, I look back at these portraits and see a moment in time. Many of these people have moved on from their jobs, some I can no longer find to give them a copy of their portrait. But I know their faces, I know their names, and they are Bound Together by time and experience. I needed to make a book of pure portraiture that I could hold in my hand and remember. This is an edition of 8 books in an Ethiopian binding with hand carved walnut covers and cyanotypes, hinged in a pattern with indigo kozo paper.