by Cybèle Young
Groundwood Books
978-1-55498-339-1
32 pp. with fold-outs
Ages 4+
September 2015
Prepare for the wonder of turning and folding out pages to witness the astonishing artwork as twelve everyday objects, from a roller-skate and wristwatch, to a set of headphones and a lawn chair, are transformed through the skill, artistry and marvel of Cybèle Young.
The text is minimal, with a brief introduction about lost items having ends that are also beginnings, and then each small object is identified with a figure number, named and the location given where it was last seen. Each double spread of an object displayed in a sea of white with accompanying i.d. is so sparse and bare, in such constrast to the detailed images of the object as it transforms into something fantastical and other-worldly. How each becomes a deep-sea element– jellyfish, sea cucumber, sea urchin, coral, plankton, fish, seaweed–is left to the extension, feathering, weaving, wrapping, folding, trimming of the Japanese paper Cybèle Young favours in her paper sculptures. How each becomes something new and wonderful is astounding. A final spread of all transformations tells us simply that, “Anything is possible.” And in her skilled hands, obviously anything is.
While we have all lost some things, and most of us have lost the very items displayed within Some Things I’ve Lost, never, ever have we seen anything as wonderful, as spectacular, as the creatures into which they have been converted with such skill and originality. Some Things I’ve Lost is as unique in its premise as it is in its artwork and I suspect we will never, ever find anything like it again.
The text is minimal, with a brief introduction about lost items having ends that are also beginnings, and then each small object is identified with a figure number, named and the location given where it was last seen. Each double spread of an object displayed in a sea of white with accompanying i.d. is so sparse and bare, in such constrast to the detailed images of the object as it transforms into something fantastical and other-worldly. How each becomes a deep-sea element– jellyfish, sea cucumber, sea urchin, coral, plankton, fish, seaweed–is left to the extension, feathering, weaving, wrapping, folding, trimming of the Japanese paper Cybèle Young favours in her paper sculptures. How each becomes something new and wonderful is astounding. A final spread of all transformations tells us simply that, “Anything is possible.” And in her skilled hands, obviously anything is.
While we have all lost some things, and most of us have lost the very items displayed within Some Things I’ve Lost, never, ever have we seen anything as wonderful, as spectacular, as the creatures into which they have been converted with such skill and originality. Some Things I’ve Lost is as unique in its premise as it is in its artwork and I suspect we will never, ever find anything like it again.
I've loved this book right from the galley pages. So happy to see it getting the love it deserves on your site! Thanks, Helen.
ReplyDelete