Book Sculptures Using discarded books to inspire and create

Jodi Harvey-Brown “I have always loved art, and I have always loved to read. Books pull you into a new world, while art lets you see it. The books that we love to read should be made to come to life. What we see in our imaginations as we read should be there for the world to see. My book sculptures are my way of making stories come alive. “

Lives in Delta, Pennsylvania An avid book lover who also loves to draw, she studied art at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA. Her rule is no rare books and no first editions: Harvey-Brown uses mainly old and/or discarded books. Each handmade scene is protected with a UV finish; sculptures are wired through to hold them in place. Jodi Harvey-Brown with “Imagination’s Journey,” her book sculpture of the New NY Bridge Repurposing Books into 3-D Art: New NY Bridge Posted August 28th, 2014 From Rockland County Times

Please tell us the genesis of it. How did you come up with the idea? Since every work comes from a book with a similar topic, she used a 1932 edition of Roddy’s Complete Geography. “I picked the book because it has an emphasis on New York and the northern states, so I thought it would be fitting.” What is it made of? Tell us a little bit about it. “About 90 percent of the sculpture is purely made from the book pages. The tree trunks are rolled paper, and the branches are wire wrapped with paper, and each leaf is individually cut and glued into place, like paper mache. There were some integrity issues, and there are some wires in place as well to hold the shape.”

How do you go about creating the composition? Do you have a plan? “For this particular book, we had a design in mind: I wanted to base it off the bridge as accurately as possible. Some of those things had to be changed because the bridge is such a massive structure, and it’s difficult to fit that into a book.” How long did it take to complete? “The project was about 100 hours. This is a big challenge for me because most of my work you can view from any angle, and I had to use a forced perspective with this.”

Mad Hatter’s Tea Party $550

Trimming the Tree $225

Music and books come to life with this book sculpture. Made from "The Lives of the Great Composers" by Schonberg, our piano man sits to play his masterpiece. Could he be the next Beethoven? With powdered wig style hair and wearing a coat with tails, the composer cuts a dashing figure. Behind him are the portraits of other composers taken from the book. they include Schumann and his wife, Clara, Paganini, and Weber.

"Jazz Band" commission made from "The Book of Jazz - From Then Till Now" 1947.

Scuba Diver

Owl Sculpture made from a bird watching field manual. Wing span is approximately 40" wide. A wire is attached to the crown of her head for hanging.

Other Book Sculptures…”out of books”

Guy Laramee

Student Examples