Expermental Book for Irregular Beauty

An experimental book design for ceramic artist, Shirley Bhatnagar.

This book is in fact three separate books with separate trim sizes combined into one book using a single stitch that elegantly joins the three books.

Shirley's work can be understood in terms of three distinct bodies of works — the first is more quirky, anthropomorphic with use of objects typically used on a daily bases such as cups, glasses, bowls etc., which are fashioned into objects that seem to be conversing with each other. The second type of works are very abstract in nature and remind us of seaside rock formations which are very dramatic in the way they are colored and shaped. The third type of work is very narrative and cinematographic in nature — where sets have been created using a combination of ceramics and collage.

The idea of this book was to represent three distinct works by one artist in a manner that reflects the experimental quality, the limited-edition of the handmade works as well as the edginess of the work in a book that also has these very qualities.