Carving art out of literature

Art Made from Books: Altered Sculptured, Carved, Transformed, released this month by Chronicle Books, is a collection of incredibly detailed works by more than 25 artists who use books as their medium.

Using a variety of techniques — from carving to stitching — artists transform the bound pages into thought-provoking sculptures. A relatively new art form that was started in the late 1960s by artist Tom Phillips, the finished products often present layers of meaning that speak to the source material as well as the artist's interpretations of the texts.

Here, some of our favorite works featured in the book:

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Unabridged, 2007, by Vita Wells | Book, hair, lights, fan, key, screw, hinges, and glue

Explorer, 2011, by Cara Barer | Archival pigment print on rag paper

Greek Art, 2007, by Nicholas Jones | Cut book

Paper Typerwriter, 2011, by Jennifer Collier | Vintage typewriter manual pages, gray board, and machine stitching

Stupa, 2012, by Guy Laramée | Carved Tibetan-Chinese dictionary

Reading and Interpretation VIII, 2009, by Pablo Lehmann | Photographic print cut out with text

The Baron in the Trees, 2011, by Su Blackwell | Secondhand book, lights, glass, and wood box

Click here to purchase Art Made From Books from Chronicle