Fly Away handmade book #16 flew away to a collector in the Netherlands in 2024. Here is a peek at this unique 1/1 handcrafted book.
Books 17-25 are still available to purchase. Once book #25 is sold, I will no longer be making these.
You can purchase a book here
https://www.melissalazuka.art/product/fly-away-handmade-artist-book
For all those who have collected and enjoyed Fly Away, I wanted to share that book 14 of the series was included in a very beautiful and unique Photobook exhibit called “Photobooks. Art Page by Page,” The exhibition is described on their website: “The definition of the photobook is as broad as that of photography, and ranges from handmade unique objects to smaller and larger print runs, from self-publishing and zines to rare, elaborately designed and bound editions. The exhibition shows a selection of German and international photobooks from the last decades, with a focus on exceptional design and storytelling. Curated by Calin Kruse and Silvia Gaetti.”
the exhibit ran from 11/25/21 through 4/3/22. A beautiful catalogue from the exhibit is available including all the Photobooks exhibited and is in itself a work of art.
Hello! It’s been awhile. I took some time off to get adjusted to my new position as a Montessori teacher to young children. Art- making has been calling me back quietly, and a few weeks ago I felt inspired to make this book. I had been thinking about this passage all year, and it seemed to fit perfectly with some of the fall/ winter images I made these last few months.
( if you would like to inquire about purchasing a copy of this, or Fly Away or Song of the Cicadas, just email me! My shop is down right now as I somehow missed the notice to pay for my domain and it quickly got bought up :(….)
Here are some images of “I am the vine. You are the branches.”
“I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Without me you can do nothing”- John 15:5
I was asked to donate a signed copy of fly away to the Massachusetts College of Art & Design’s annual Photobook auction. I forgot to sign it before I took pictures so will do that plus doublecheck everything and perhaps add a few more details today!
Here is a peek of it. The online auction is open to the public and will be held November 30th- December 4th. When I have the link I will add it to this post! 🖤
I was delighted to be on the cover of a local neighborhood magazine this month. It was a lovely welcome back to the west side of Cleveland.
I was asked to share about my photography journey, family, and volunteer work for the article. Thank you Beachcliff Beacon- Jason, Christine, and Rachel!
I recently finished book 9 in my fly away series of 25 unique handmade artist books. This book went to a dear friend in California.
Each book contains this poem from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll that I type onto antique paper with my 1930’s Underwood Standard Portable Typewriter;
"In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die;
Ever drifting down the stream,
Lingering in the golden gleam -
Life, what is it, but a Dream?"
- Lewis Carroll
ARTIST STATEMENT, fly away
There is a very short period of time that everyone is a child, and only so many summers we can experience as a child, before they "die", and we must become adults. In this series, I focus on the fleetingness of time, and the dream like world my daughter takes me to, as she escapes into her imagination in the outside world of our home, the Ohio landscape. Through multiple exposures and a technique called freelensing in which I hold my broken film lenses, detached from the camera, I have tried to create the world which she imagines and inhabits. One in which time is irrelevant and where fairies do exist, and she is Queen of the Butterflies. It is an escape to wonderland, a dream world she flies away to, and always comes back.
You can read Douglas Stockdale’s lovely review of it here
I am working on book 10 if you are interested in purchasing one!
I sell all of my artist books here!
xo
It was such an honor to have my artist photobook, “fly away” included in The Photobook Journal’s “Interesting books of 2019.” You can read the list and see all the other books chosen here !
Here are some pages from book #8 “fly away” that was just finished for a collector in California. They are unique handmade editions in a series of 25. This is the series artist statement:
Fly Away
”In a Wonderland they lie, Dreaming as the days go by, Dreaming as the summers die; Ever drifting down the stream, Lingering in the golden gleam - Life, what is it, but a Dream?" - Lewis Carroll There is a very short period of time that everyone is a child, and only so many summers we can experience as a child, before they "die", and we must become adults. In this series, I focus on the fleetingness of time, and the dream like world my daughter takes me to, as she escapes into her imagination in the outside world of our home, the Ohio landscape. Through multiple exposures and a technique called freelensing in which I hold my broken film lenses, detached from the camera, I have tried to create the world which she imagines and inhabits. One in which time is irrelevant and where fairies do exist, and she is Queen of the Butterflies. It is an escape to wonderland, a dream world she flies away to, and always comes back.
This is a series of 25 and books 9-25 are still available to purchase here
