About the work

The ampersand or "and sign" has long been a symbol to me of the tie between words and art. It is in itself a graphic while representing a word. It is literature's first emoticon! I love the shape and weight and unlimited styles you can apply to the symbol. In this piece, I have used pages from old books to fill the shape of a big, fat ampersand. The ampersand holds the words and becomes art. This image has floated around in my head for years. I feel like I can actually smell the pages of the old book!