Artists statement

Nicholas Jones uses books and printed paper to make works which question the manner in which books are ‘read’. He employs scalpels and a careful hand to carve and incise, fold, tear and sew his materials, manipulating books and pages in a manner that disrupts narrative structure and creates alternative readings. Old books, subject to his process-driven practice, are reborn as sculptural objects.

In 2012 Jones was awarded a Creative Fellowship by the State Library of Victoria. Several years of research into mapping and the history of cartography led to his discovery of Terrarum Orbis Theatrum, considered to be the world’s first true modern atlas, published 1570 in Antwerp, Belgium. Inspired by this tome, Jones deftly carved the topographical Readers Digest, Atlas of Australia (Terra Australis nondum cognita) the larger book displayed here, acquired by Council in 2014. The topographical effect achieved by carving imagined coastline through the book is mirrored by the aerial geographical view of an Australian landscape printed on the book's endpapers.

To complement this acquisition, four smaller works were commissioned in 2015. Stonnington’s community is diverse and rich in its heritage; Jones references the four most common ethnic origins of residents of the City of Stonnington as listed in the most recent census data. The coastal outlines of these countries, as represented in significant historical maps, are here embodied in little paper vessels of content and history. As Jones intervenes in the physicality of the books, he transforms them into small yet compelling sculptures that challenge and expand the questions and answers books typically provide.

Historical information

Britain
Map reference: 'Europam sive Celticam Veterem' by Abraham Ortelius (1595)
Book sculpted: Walpole by Lord Macaulay