BIO
Kaori was born in Japan and spent her childhood in Singapore. She graduated from TAMA Art University in Tokyo, Japan in 1993 and from 1993-1997 she did an apprenticeship in Theatre and Costume design with a renowned costume designer, and a member of the Yokohama Boat Theatre performance group.
From 1997-2001 she worked as an Art & Craft curator, travelling extensively around Japan before moving to the UK in 2001. She studied bookbinding with Midori Kunikata-Cockram at Jade Bookbinding Studio and later with Mark Cockram at Studio 5.
From 2003-2005 Kaori did an MA in Fine Art Printmaking at Camberwell University of the Arts London, UK.
2005-2008. In 2005 Kaori began working at The Wyvern bindery undertaking all kinds of bookbinding work, mainly working with leather. In April 2020, Kaori took over the business as a Wyvern Bindery LLP with two other partners.
Kaori was elected as a Fellow of Designer Bookbinders in 2020 and has won numerous prizes for her bookbinding work.
The Abstract Garden
Poem by Philip Gross
Engraving by Peter Reddick
The Old Style Press, 2006
270 x 200 x 20mm
Bound in 2018
Private Collection
Leather relief gilding technique; relief print with lino cut and gilded by brush stroke on the raised side of the images. Hand printed fly leaves, sequence image from leather doublures. Gilded edges only on the head.
The design was inspired by ‘Poem-by–way-of-a-preface’ by the poet.
Full leather Binding in Harmatan goatskin. This binding is sewn with unsupported link-stitch with secondary sewing on a continuous linen board attachment. Relief linocut design with three layers of gold leaf on the raised parts of the leather. Hand – sewn silk endbands. Endpapers and edges painted with watercolour to resemble clouds in the sky or rustling leaves.
This beautiful Folio received an award at the 2018 Oxford Fine Book Fair. I was a fan of Paul L. Kershaw’s print work so I was very excited to work on this Grapho Edition. My tree and animal designs are inspired by my daily morning trip to Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common.
This treasure trove of musings, memories and local historical unearthings by Wayland Wordsmith, is inspired by his love of the river exe estuary in east Devon. A witty and contemplative selection of poetry and prose, that celebrates mud, sunsets, birds, boats and fishermen and evokes the timeless joy of drifting with the tide. This special edition of five has been created for the 2021 Wittockiana exhibition. It is an adapted from the first edition published in 2019 by Hanbury Press.
This book 1/5 is a full leather binding in Teal 38 Harmatan goatskin and the construction uses a linen board attachment. The endpapers and gate fold are made with handmade Suminagashi marbling representing the river tide.
My design is created using leather relief technique, it depicts the poet sailing on his boat conjuring up his imagination. Surrounding him are symbolic constellations tooled in gold leaf, such as the summer triangle on the front board and on the spine we see Pegasus, and Cassiopeia. Rising up from the bottom of the back board, we see Orion signifying the coming of winter. As well as we see Boreas, the god of the north wind shown as a horse blowing through the sky.
The cushioned onlay on the front cover is in yellow goatskin. The design shows wild flowers with a prism of light behind. I used pale blue and white goatskin to create the light effect. The endpapers and the edge decoration are hand printed.
Multiple Harmatan purple goatskins with back-pared and cushioned onlays.
The stream of thought throughout the years. The sense of movement and change throughout the passage of time and how the verse captures in design.
Scarf jointed with multiple Harmatan red goatskins. Cushioned onlay with Blackberry goatskin. Top edge gilding.
GET IN TOUCH
Email: kaorimakijpcom@gmail.com
Website: http://kaorimaki.info
Instagram: @kaorimakibookbinder
Accepts Commissions: Yes
