“Sheila Hicks Weaving as Metaphor” book designed by Irma Boom
32. What: “Sheila Hicks Weaving as Metaphor” book designed by Irma Boom. This book compiles almost 200 weavings made by artist Sheila Hicks. The book accompanied an exhibit of Shelia Hick’s work at The Bard Graduate Center for studies in the decorative arts, design, and culture in New York.
So What: Irma Boom created a book that reflects the texture and beauty of the weavings that make up its content. The book gives subtle and beautiful reference to weaving: soft raggedy page edges, white cover with raised bumps in the shape of a weaving, beginning page with repetition of author’s name tiny so it at first reads as a texture, but none of the graphic references detract from the work or complicate readability or understanding of the subject matter for the viewer. Irma Boom said in a Metropolis interview that the book is her best one partly because she became friends with Sheila Hicks and, as she says, “So we got to know each other very well, and I think that’s what you feel.” She also says that she experimented with 15 book dummies for a catalogue before she was asked to make the book so she incorporated some of those exploratory ideas, and even though the book is very innovative and un-american, the publishers accepted it. I like that the book is about objects, the weavings, and it also draws attention to the book form as a beautiful object. http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20080229/booms-visual-testing-ground
