Artist Statement
The work I create focuses on my perception of the natural world and its fragility in relation to human existence. Much of what I make––one-of-a kind books, letterpress-printed artist books, cast paper sculptures, cut-paper works and animation––brings to mind the intentional growth, pattern, and arrangement one might find in nature.
Book history, its production and the art of the book have played a pivotal role in my professional life. My bookwork largely draws from natural history and ecology, and looks at both human engagement with the environment and current ecological concerns.
The process behind each project forms a large part of my work, and is evident in the finished pieces. Just as nature takes its time to evolve, slowly and thoughtfully, I make, at a slow and deliberate pace, work that evokes that very meaning.
Bio
Radha Pandey is a book artist, papermaker and letterpress printer. She earned her MFA in Book Arts from the University of Iowa Center for the Book. She specializes in Indo-Islamicate Papermaking and teaches book arts classes in India, Europe and the US.
Her book Anatomia Botanica (2014) won the MICA Book Award and received an Honorable Mention at the 15th Carl Hertzog Award for Excellence in Book Design. In 2018, her book Deep Time won the Joshua Heller Memorial Award. Pandey’s most recent book Flora of Mughal India won the prestigious MCBA Book Prize (2024).
Her books are held in over 80 collections internationally, including the Library of Congress and Yale University.
Currently, Radha is working on a large-scale version of her book, Jaali, a movable book exploring co-existence using Islamic geometry in architectural motifs in India.
To learn about Halden Bookworks, click here.
To learn about New Delhi Bookworks, click here.
Click here to download a .pdf version of my CV
Click here to download a digital prospectus