Innerland

Innerland (1989) is an artist’s book by Timothy C. Ely. Ely was born in Washington and is currently a contemporary painter, graphic artists and book binder. He has been making books since he was a child and had a particular interest in astronomy and chemistry. He was also highly influenced by his father’s hardware store and the library and now fuses his unique drawings with his take on traditional English binding techniques. The core of his concepts is based on his fascination with obscure or seemingly incomprehensible forms inspired by science and other projections from the history of the human imagination. His works include fractured and whole grids, cypher systems or landscapes as seen from a satellite. His atlas created a platform on which an expanded psychological viewpoint of a larger universe will form. Through suggestive drawing Ely creates a sense of language and meaningful discourse. Many of Ely’s works are rich with annotations and his own glyphs he calls “cribriform”. While they contain a finite set of marks they take on many different meanings, depending on the tool that is used to make them. With a national endowment Ely travelled to many countries to learn bookbinding and papermaking skills.

Abby Schooman Books. Available on: http://www.abbyschoolman.com/timothy-c-ely/