West Dean College Competition Book

Designer Book Binder Prize for Best Design (West Dean College, 2025)

This book and box were made using photographs I took of the Caryatids (stone guardians) at West Dean College. I had these digitally printed onto 3x types of fabric (cotton jersey, cotton/lycra and velveteen). The red lips are printed on silk from one of my flower photographs and reference Mae West's lips sofa that resides at the college. The different touch sensations are integral to the design - stone depicted in fabric and 2D / 3D interplay (I want to emphasise the relationships between materials in a nod to the subtle yet unnerving surrealist desire to confuse). The design not only references Edward James's love of ancient classical objects but also links to a number of poems in this volume, where he pays homage to the romance of life in southern Europe (reclaiming the Lips - as his own). The rounded and backed text block has been prepared using a link stitch, supported with 3x linen tapes. The end bands have been created using a hemp core and paper outer (from one of my photographs of an exterior wall of the West Dean parish Church).
The case has been created using sculptured grey-board, formed to fit the undulating curves of the stone drapery.