Starkville, MS
How Swimming Saved My Life
$175
ellen@crookedletterpress.com
www.crookedletterpress.com
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Established in Starkville, Misssissippi in 2003, Crooked Letter Press is the imprint of book artist and graphic designer, Ellen Knudson. The aim of the work produced by Crooked Letter Press is the synthesis of images and words in the form of letterpress printed handmade books and printed matter.
In all of the work produced by the press, a visually tactile space is created in which the reader/viewer is an active participant. The type is to be viewed, the imagery to be read, and vice versa. The choices of text, imagery, materials, and binding style are made entirely in support of the specific environment of the printed piece.
“I believe that making things by hand allows me to connect to other people. Making books is a physical job that requires a mastery of hand skills in order for the work to be executed well. A human being is in my books as much as any of the type and image. Noticing the unnoticed is a running theme in the art I produce. I’ve always been interested in raising the ordinary to the surface because I find the ordinary very honest, vibrant, and very beautiful. For me, making books by hand is not simply a means to an end — the handmade aspect is a large part of the statement I am trying to make. It’s my hope that people like the little worlds I create in my books.”Artist Biography
Ellen Knudson is a graduate of the MFA in Book Arts program at The University of Alabama and produces handmade books under the imprint of Crooked Letter Press. Ellen has been a book artist for eleven years and a professional graphic designer for sixteen years at such places as The Art Institute of Chicago and The Detroit Institute of Arts. She has taught letterpress printing at The University of Alabama, graphic design at Mississippi State University and Wayne State University, and workshops at multiple venues across the U.S.
All images and text copyright the artist. All rights reserved.
