Centipede. Daniel Essig, artist
Daniel Essig, known for building intriguing sculptural books, will speak about his process and the meaning behind his works at Mica Gallery in Bakersville on Sunday, July 12, at 2 p.m. His sculpted books feature enclosures of found treasures, and he also creates sculptures of creatures such as alligators or birds carefully holding a handmade book.
“The found objects I include in my wooden books and sculptures are part of a ‘visual diary,’ a collection of mostly natural relics that I have gathered and organized since I was a kid,” Essig says. “Each object is a kind of souvenir, a reminder of place, time or person. When I am working on wooden books, I scan my visual diary for just the right object to place in the mica window within the book cover.” Each of his sculptures is built around or inspired by a particular treasured object.
As for process and the materials he uses, Essig says that wood he has collected is at the core of each book or sculpture. “Mostly, I use native hardwoods from the Appalachian Mountains,” he says, “but I also collect wood when I travel the country and world to teach workshops. The sculptures and most painted wooden books are carved from mahogany.” His process involves carving the shape, then covering the surface with handmade paper that is dyed with walnuts and gelatin sized. The surface is then painted with milk paint, sanded, burnished and waxed. Sometimes he will distress the wooden surfaces by burning before the paint is applied. Metal pieces and mica are attached at the end of the process.
Essig attended Penland School of Craft as a work-study student followed by the intensive two-year core fellowship program. His time at Penland helped him decide to pursue art as a career. As a photography student at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, he was introduced to handmade books, and at Penland he was able to study with “book arts legends like Dolph Smith, Jim Croft and Doug Buebe,” Essig says. “They inspired me to expand the limits of what a book could be.” Others in the community, like Cynthia Bringle and Jane Peiser, helped him realize that he could make a living from his work.
“The greatest compliment I feel is when a viewer does not know if one of my sculptures is an actual artifact or something that I have made,” Essig says. His works have become part of permanent collections around the country. “My favorite is for university libraries to have special collections,” he says. “I know that the works will not only be kept safe under ideal environments, they will also be repaired when needed, and, most importantly, be studied by future generations of students and scholars.”
Visit Mica Gallery to see Essig’s creations as well as work by 50 other artists living in Western North Carolina.
Mica is an artist-run gallery of fine art and contemporary craft located at 37 North Mitchell Avenue in Bakersville. Works on display range from clay to glass, metals, wood, basketry, jewelry, weaving, handmade books, painting, drawing and printmaking. The gallery is open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12–5 p.m. on Sunday. Learn more at MicaGalleryNC.com or follow on Facebook and Instagram at micagallerync.
