Storytelling Through Books

handmade book with harakeke paper cover woven with harakeke paper dyed with raurekau, spine bound with muka. Image by Harete

I often think about my love of books and where it began.
At primary school, I spent a lot of time in the library, flipping through big picture books, and later, storybooks. I loved a good mystery—Nancy Drew was my favourite. I also loved those books where you could choose your path. You never knew where you’d end up, but the unknown felt exciting!

We only had five books at home, and each of them shaped who I am today. There was Jacques Cousteau’s book about the ocean, Golden Hands, a craft book about knitting, crochet, and cane work. I learned all those skills from my mother and that book. Then there was a gardening book, a medical book, and some sports books. Healing is now a big part of my life—not medical healing but natural healing. And we played a lot of sport as kids.

I loved writing too.

harakeke paper, cotton abaca paper & muka. Image by Harete

When I think about books today, especially those that are handmade, created from scratch, I reflect on what they mean to me. They’re made from plants and are inspired by their stories and stories of this land. These stories shape the book itself, influencing the design, the binding, and the words and imagery I choose. These books are an art form, which is what I love about artist books, they can take any form.

My indigenous self sees books as a starting point, a way to share stories beyond their pages. They connect to storytelling through art, sculpture, and language, not limited to words but reaching into other realms.

It’s taken time to understand what this means and where it could lead, but I’m slowly finding my place in creating books and telling stories through small batch creations.

handmade book created at Frogwood Collaboration 2023. Covers are harakeke paper, back design has an imprint of a kōrari - flax flower and the spine is bound with muka, also from harakeke. The woven cover has been dyed with another native tree, raurekau. Image by Lee Mahoney.

I loved this collaboration book at Frogwood 2023. Working alongside other papermakers, bookbinders and artists who work in different mediums brings another element to the work that has been created. Often we don’t think of things outside of the work we are doing, especially when we are working in isolation, so it’s refreshing to add different elements but also have the skill of other artists to draw from.

Front cover of book. Image by Lee Mahoney.