Su Blackwell at the Long and Ryle gallery

I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that Su Blackwell currently has a show at the Long and Ryle gallery in London called To Take Us Lands Away, until December 20th. The new work looks spectacular, of course.

Su Blackwell graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2003. She makes intricate art-works from every-day objects, transforming clothes and books into fantastical three-dimensional forms. Using a scalpel she cuts and glues the pages of books to create miniature dioramas glowing with lights in wood and glass boxes, like Victorian relics found in a museum of intrigue.

She finds her books – or rather lets them find her – by trawling through second-hand book shops. She always reads the book first and this in turn inspires the work. Some of the books that come into the artist’s possession sit on her shelf for months and months. The books themselves, their histories and stories, also interest her. They hold in their pages a record of their past events, as physical objects; their damage, such as frays and stains, makes our relationship with the contents immediate and visceral, and in turn tells another story.