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SALT+SHAW

Sheffield
We make limited edition and artefact books; lino and letterpress prints

Celebrating 21 years of making limited edition and artefact books.

Our books are tactile and intimate, revealing and enclosing their stories through words, pictures, found objects, collage, drawing and print. Structure, experimentation and construction are vital; uniting the physicality of making with the creative development of each book and its inextricably linked contents. Our work creates a narrative, by exploring themes and ideas and also appealing to the senses: the sound of a cover opening, the creak of metal hinges; the feel of textured surfaces; the smell of wood, ink and leather; the discovery of hidden text and objects.

We began making books together via a long route through painting, drawing, writing, installation, printmaking, sculpture and photography. As SALT+SHAW, working on location underpins our practice. We have a history of exploring cities and wild places, rummaging around in junk shops and museums, searching shorelines and following routes or rivers. This has resulted in a reflex action to collect objects and information, gather ideas, create journals, take photographs, write and make images. These raw materials gradually reveal their content, narrative and structure.

The book is an ideal format for our work, enabling us to combine individual interests and ways of working. We have developed a joined-up approach to making books together, either led by one of us and underpinned by mutual support, or co-produced as a joint piece through a process of negotiation, discussion and sheer bloody mindedness.

 

 

Future Infinity

3 New Books - Arc, Blade and Ravine

Held

Forest, Garden, Beach

Coin

Crow

Look

9 Things To Do On Holiday

Whorl

Fold

Liminal

Ithaca

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Weekly Highlights: 26 February-3 March, 2024

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