Old books get new lives if artist Cecilia Levy lays her hands on them. From the dusty pages of vintage volumes and comics come delicate cups and saucers, fantastic bowls and even tea pots.
Photo Credit: Instagram
The Swedish artist used to work as a book binder. Now, taking books apart and turning them into art is her passion. To those who say books are meant to be books, giving them a second, beautiful life seems more sensitive than letting them grow moldy tucked away in boxes.
Photo Credit: Instagram
Levy uses the papier-mache technique to put the pages together. She especially likes the looks of old paper with all the little holes, tears and stains marking the books’ own personal histories:
The traces of previous readers, the fragile paper with holes after the binding, graceful typography, old-fashioned language and a, sometimes odd, content, all attribute to what I want to express in my work. The world around us, the passage of time and memories.
Photo Credit: Instagram
The work is Levy’s meditation, and she lets the old typography swirl through the pieces. No other decoration or glaze is needed. Don’t you agree if the books are going to sit on a shelf unused anyway, they may as well look pretty?
Photo Credit: Instagram
For more information on the artist and her work, visit CeciliaLevy.com – and if you’ve got books just lying around your closet, maybe don’t let them molder too long?
