Artist Creates 'Fossilized' Books in a Ceramics Kiln at Over 2,400 Degrees

Jacqueline Rush Lee’s ‘Strata,’ 2016 (Brad Goda)

Hawaii-based sculptor Jaqueline Rush Lee destroys books for a living—but in a way that turns them into brilliant works of “fossilized” art.

Nearly 20 years into her craft, Lee, who is originally from Northern Ireland and has degrees in ceramics and studio art, stumbled upon her subject-matter largely by accident. Firing a book in her kiln, she found this “… otherworldly, deconstructed book form, with its own story to tell.”

From there, it spiraled into a number of different projects, using books and magazines, in what she calls “controlled kiln environments,” transforming the paperbound objects into “fossils.” All of this takes place at temperatures as high as 2,444 degrees. Of the books, Lee notes that “… some were fragile, bloom-like forms or skeletal remains, while others were coral-like in parts, with covers that were shell-like in feel with text, cover titles, and even book cover colors present in their new, warped state.”

She’s also worked with applying layers of black ink to the books prior to firing them to add a separate layer of intrigue to them (at times, the inked-fired books look like sushi rolls).

For more on Jaqueline Rush Lee’s artwork, click here. Below, take a look at some more of the artist’s work.