Anne Covell is a visual artist and hand papermaker. She received her MFA in Book Arts from the University of Iowa Center for the Book where she was the recipient of the Iowa Arts Fellowship. She has studied Asian and Western papermaking techniques with Timothy Barrett and has taught courses in bookbinding, papermaking, and natural dyeing for the University of Iowa Center for the Book and the University of Georgia study abroad program in Cortona, Italy. Her work has been exhibited internationally and can be seen in a growing number of special collections libraries and museums worldwide. Currently, she resides in San Diego, California where she prints limited edition artist books under the imprint Sin Nombre Press, and is also investigating Asian papermaking and cover-making techniques for use in conservation and book arts.

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Artist Statement

 

My work draws upon seemingly small observations from daily life as a point for inquiry and investigation into the ways in which humans influence and alter the natural world. In particular, I am interested in the human capacity to physically shape environment, to make claim to earth that must inherently be shared, and the subtle, observable ways nature adapts and responds. Through this lens, I attempt to draw focus to the often-overlooked connections shared between all life forms and use beauty as an entry for experiencing and processing the transient nature of being.

My work makes the claim that culture and nature ought not to exist in mutual opposition, but rather in accordance with each other. Therefore, I believe it is imperative that we seriously consider the impact of our actions, however small, in shaping our relationship to our proximal and distant surroundings. Whenever possible, I practice natural and historic production methods, such as natural dyeing and hand papermaking, as a means to produce cohesive work that is sensitive to the preservation of material resources and processes. Transience and decay are not only of the natural world, but are also of the material culture we construct. Through both research and practice, I attempt to capture and reflect the temporal essence of the ephemeral, as a means to preserve what might otherwise be lost.