I was lucky enough to see some of Su Blackwell’s book sculptures at ‘The Devon Guild of Craftman’ craft centre at Bovey Tracey in 2019.
Su Blackwell, an RCA graduate and artist who works primarily in paper, makes delicate book sculptures and installations from the pages of second-hand books.
The Tooth Fairy
Blackwell says of her work, “I often work within the realm of fairy-tales and folk-lore. I began making a series of book-sculpture, cutting-out images from old books to create three-dimensional diorama’s, and displaying them inside wooden boxes”.
Blackwell has exhibited her exquisite sculptures around the World. Her illustrated book of fairy tales ‘The Fairytale Princess’, published by Thames & Hudson was re-released in 2015.
Red Riding Hood 2010
The Girl in the Wood 2008
“For the cut-out illustrations, I tend to lean towards young-girl characters, placing them in haunting, fragile settings, expressing the vulnerability of childhood, while also conveying a sense of childhood anxiety and wonder. There is a quiet melancholy in the work, depicted in the material used, and choice of subtle colour.”
Princess and the Pea 2011
I just think her work is magical and love the way she includes lighting to emphasise the fairy tale world she has created.
Alice A Mad Tea Party 2007
The House in the Oak Tree 2015
Blackwell is turning her hand to stage design for the first time by creating the sets for The Snow Queen at the Rose Theatre in Kingston. "It starts off with an industrial, Victorian, brick town in Denmark, which is quite bleak and then as Girder travels through the seasons, it becomes a magical, fantasy world," says Blackwell. "My favourite scene is Mrs D's garden, which is quite surreal and topsy-turvy. I had fun playing with the scale of props for that and planning explosions of colour for the stage."
The Snow Queen