Fern in Blue. Kimberly Obee, artist
When Mica Gallery opens for the season on April 1, it will welcome book artist Kimberly Obee as one of ten new members. An adjunct professor in bookmaking and papermaking at Warren Wilson College, Obee established Wishing Flower Press and Bindery in 2021 while studying for her MFA at the University of Iowa Center for the Book.
A love of drawing, Obee says, drew her to the art of printmaking. “What was so great about printmaking was that I could make a drawing and instead of that drawing only existing as one sole unit, it was transformed through the process of printmaking—whether it be etching, relief or lithography—into multiples. The idea of the multiple intrigued me, and I loved the thought of my drawings being collected by many people.”
She eventually evolved into bookmaking because she loves books and because her skills in lithography and printmaking fit well with books and letterpress printing. “What I love most about books is the familiarity of them as objects,” she says. “Everyone knows what a book is: how to hold it in one’s hands, open the cover, turn the pages and look from left to right across the page. The more I explored the book structure and really learned and understood the mechanics of the book, the more I saw possibilities for creative diversion.”
The nature of books, she adds, offers her space to play with material, structure, imagery and storytelling. “My recent work in books really explores the boundaries of the traditional codex by incorporating pages that fold in and fold out, with hidden flaps or accordion structures that unfold from the book,” she says. “Changing the physical shape of the book and the way the book is handled and read when the ‘reader’ engages with it.”
Mica will also feature Obee’s Wishing Flower handprinted letterpress stationery line. “These days, I’ve really been focusing on my letterpress stationery and handbound notebook lines,” Obee says. “I’ve also been increasingly intrigued with paper mechanics and engineering, that being paper toys like the optical illusion Thaumatrope and zoetrope, the geometry of paper stars and greeting cards that include pop-up elements. This engineering versus craft in relation to paper is really exciting to me and I anticipate some new ‘paper toys’ as additions and expansion to my Wishing Flower stationery line in the coming year.”
Book artists and Mica members Daniel Essig and Vicki Essig also have new work on display. Vicki’s work employs sheets of mica. “I embed fragments of old books, remnants of nature and the handwriting of vintage postcards into the layers of mica,” she says. Daniel’s work is sculptural in form. “I am interested in traces of the past, ancient binding styles, reliquaries, distressed finishes and found objects,” he says.
Mica is located at 37 North Mitchell Avenue, Bakersville. The gallery opens daily for the season on April 1, with open hours on Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 12–5 p.m. Throughout March, Mica will be open Fridays and Saturdays. On Saturday, March 9, visit the gallery from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for Field Trip to Main Street Bakersville. For more information, visit MicaGalleryNC.com, call 828.688.6422 or find on Facebook (Mica Gallery NC) and Instagram (micagallerync).
