Charles Wisseman
Champaign, Illinois

I Ching

The 64 I Ching patterns are cast into handmade flax paper, dyed with homemade walnut dye, and covered in bamboo wood covers with a Japanese side-stab-inspired binding. The materials are made by hand, formed and cast by hand, and gathered in a compact reference form. These patterns can suggest all of the possible pathways that can form a future.

Bamboo covers, cast handmade flax pages with walnut dye. 3 x 3.375 x 2.25 inches. 7.5 x 8.5 x 5.5 centimeters. Created 2015.

Worldbone

January book, black and white world. Bare trees are the bones of the world. Covers are cross-sections of elk bone in epoxy. Pages are handmade cotton paper with brushed-on liquid silver gelatin emulsion exposed with photograms of dead leaves from my yard. Central folds contain a spot of color - a seed to restart the cycle of life in the spring. Spine cover is Nepalese paper with bohdi leaf print to represent a hope for rebirth of peace. Formation of paper, image, hope in troubled times.

Elk bone in epoxy, handmade paper with liquid emulsion photograms. 3.125 x 3.5 x 2.75 inches. 8 x 9 x 7 centimeters. Created in 2015.

CHARLES WISSEMAN is a retired medical pathology doctor, now doing mixed media art with an emphasis on books, boxes, and papermaking. He has repaired books at the University of Illinois, attended the Paper and Book Intensive, and exhibited in regional shows, galleries, and Guild of Book Workers Midwest Chapter traveling exhibits.

Website: www.charleswisseman.webs.com