RYAN WEBER

There is a great sense of intimacy created while flipping through the pages and exploring the stories captured within a book. This notion of personal investment is one that my recent body of artist books investigates, both in how the viewer interacts with a piece and the way in which an artist forges a connection with pieces throughout the creative process. The incorporation of childhood memories and forgotten heroes inspires the graphic line quality and sense of superhero nostalgia expressed in much of my work. Ideas of comic book fantasies often turns to a more melancholy vision of a fallen hero's struggle related closely to the losses felt as people move through their lives. Using hand-made paper, delicately drawn or painted ink details, and mixed media components, these books often take on many different forms and sizes. Ranging from five individual three foot by four foot pages expressing a solitary storyline through their panoramic landscape to an average matchbook that captures the loss of a friend on its small cover and thin matches, these books explore how experimental book structures interact with the viewer and intent. Whether small or large, each book incorporates delicately described details that capture the fleeting moments of life and explore both personal experiences and the superhero dreams tucked away within every child's heart.