Strange Journals

Steve Salik is a Phoenix-based artist whose work is a fusion of bookbinding, book arts, art journaling, photography and printmaking. He is best known for his hand bound journals that are created from a variety of domestic and exotic hardwoods, polymer clay and metal. He favors materials with chaotic properties like maple burl and figured walnut; “these materials” Salik says, “emphasize the properties of life we often struggle against like, chaos, imperfection, disarray and decay.” He turns these properties on their head by featuring the imperfections in the materials as core elements of his work.

Steve is also an avid art journaler. His journaling process moves beyond recording the minutia of daily life and his journals are often a mix of photographs, prints and experiments with a variety of materials ranging from pen and ink to spray paint. “I’m not overly concerned with creating works that are meant to last forever” he says; “I very much want to create something that’s visually appealing and I don’t obsess about my materials being acid free or archival.”