Book Paintings by Mike Stilkey [1]
For the past several years, artist Mike Stilkey has repurposed old books as a medium for his portraits of people and animals. Here are a dozen of his works, some of which will be on display in the exhibition Face to Face: The Changing Face of Portraiture [2] in Carlsbad, California.
"Becoming Undone" [3]
The title of this piece plays with the title of the book at its crown, The Surgeon by W. C. Heinz.
"Birds Attack Man on Bike" [4]
Form Line of Battle! by Alexander Kent and Fail-Safe by Eugene Burdick top this piece.
"Distinguished Gentleman" [5]
Stilkey has partnered with libraries and bookstores, as well as a publishing company, to acquire donations of withdrawn or remaindered books.
"Man Wanders Into Precarious Situation" [6]
Among the books used in this piece is James Jones's Go to the Widow-Maker.
"Reminiscent" [7]
Stilkey is pictured here in the process of creating his installation Reminiscent last summer at California's Hurley )( Space Gallery. Click here [8] for a video of the project unfolding.
"Self Portrait as a Horse" [9]
To prepare his "canvas," Stilkey first sorts books by size then lays them like bricks and inserts a screw into each one.
"Slightly All the Time" [10]
Stilkey's sculpture overtakes the room at a 2008 exhibition in California.
"Song of the River" [11]
Too Far to Walk by John Hersey and Night Without Stars by Winston Graham help create the canvas for this painting.
"The Chandelier" [12]
Titles used in this piece include A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt and The Utmost Island by Henry Myers.
"The Long Way Home" [13]
Stilkey often selects books based on the color and texture of their covers.
"The Piano Has Been Drinking" [14]
Roughly five thousand books were used to create this piece and its companion, Reminiscent.
"Time and Time Again" [15]
Capping this sculpture is the novel The Methuselah Enzyme, Fred Mustard Stewart's novel of eternal youth-seeking, with Decade by Stephen Longstreet and Proud Destiny by Lion Feuchtwanger also integrated.