Charlene Matthews at her studio in Los Angeles.
"Using materials as unusual as Victorian ceiling tile, kangaroo leather, and a fish-eye lens, the one-woman show that is Charlene Matthews Bindery outfits books in a cramped studio sandwiched between a restaurant and a florist. A blur of vivid hair in an electric blue studio, Matthews flits among her 19th-century binding tools, which include a huge press, a paper-cutting guillotine, and “job backers” (steel leviathans that grip and cut). In her restoration work, she cloaks hardboard covers in vintage silk, ribbon, and leather finished so finely, they look translucent" (LA Magazine).
Matthews, a legendary teacher of bookbinding crafts, a book designer for major artists, and a book artist herself, will take us on a virtual tour of her many-faceted world and offer us, in the bargain, a unique tutorial on the care and maintenance of books in our own libraries.