Jody Williams - Artist Statement

 

Books communicate information and ideas; boxes keep things safe and
hidden. Most of my work deals with artist's books and boxes, and with the
relationship between communication and containers. I was introduced to
books through printmaking and papermaking, and have been making boxes
since my undergraduate study in metalsmithing. Collages have been a
constant, always done as a series of pages. Through two dimensional
prints and collage, I have developed my own visual vocabulary of color,
shape, structure, movement, and space. In making books and boxes, I use
this imagery to address physical space, structure, and text. Form and
content are inseparable, and each element is considered in relation to the
whole.

I was born with a passion for little books and little boxes. As a child, I
collected and honored minutiae, but denied the obsession once I got to art
school, where bigger is better‚ reigned. Afterwards, I slowly came to
accept that my most successful work was small, and that little things can
matter very much. Small things are easily controlled, organized, and
arranged, and working small is a way for me to create an intimate, orderly
universe, full of secrets which may or may not be revealed.