The Altered Bibles of Linda Ekstrom

Circling Altered Bible 9d x 9w x 9h

bi·ble/ˈbībəl/

Noun:

The Christian scriptures, consisting of the Old and New Testaments. The Jewish scriptures, consisting of the Torah, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa.

For the believers it is the word of god. For others it is a tool of oppression and for some simply a book of stories taken way too literally.

Homeland, 2001. Altered Bible 6d x 12w x 2.5h inches

For Linda Ekstrom it is the foundation of her 'Word' series. Why not start at the source.

Ekstrom is no heathen, her work "is a direct extension and materialization of [her] religious practice and interest in Jewish and Christian tradition."

Ekstrom says "My work is anchored in the book, the book as a cultural and a symbolic object, and as a container of history, narrative and memory. The Bible, as the primary book of Western culture and central to my tradition, is the book I alter and transform into sculptures."

Book of Night (detail), 2002. Bible, coated in ink 6d x 2h x 5w inches

She goes on: "my altered Bibles insist that interpretation must remain open; they serve as visual symbols against fundamentalism, defying a singular, literal read by rearranging the order into myriad possibilities."

Effusion, 2003. Altered Bible 15d x 18w x 36h inches

 

Imprint, 1999. Altered Bible8.5d x 5w x 6h inches (shown wall mounted)

Opere Apum, 1996. Bible, wood,honeycomb, 10 x 14 x 2.5 inches

 

(Via Book Patrol.)