UnBound - A Shoe as an Artist Book

During October and November I participated in a Fibre Arts Take 2 course, Unbound< lead by artist book Artist, Toni Hartnell. There were lots of tips and book forms and we were challenged to create a book form that was based on an unusual substrate.

I might have got carried away a bit but I decided to cover an old shoe in silver lame to represent my “book.” The idea behind this was to cross the divide between and a more glamourous age. I live not far from Waitomo Caves and the Waitomo Caves Hotel was a magnificent icon of grandeur paying host to royalty and other celebrities as well as the adventurers who discovered the glowworm caves. It stands empty now - apart from perhaps the ghost that is purported to roam the upstairs levels. A victim of time and cost and regulations regarding health and safety.

During the pandemic it was invaded by squatters, but stands forlorn and alone again now. I was fortunate to be able to document the hotel in photographs which I have printed on rice paper and added as a scroll to the shoe.

The photographs below show stages of creating the shoe. It would have been lovely to have done this with a stiletto heal but I was working with what I had and my days of high hells are long over.