Book artist: Margie Kelk

Artist: Margie Kelk
Website: Margie Kelk

In the past few years, I have made several trips to China. I became fascinated with the history and the people of that country, and for the past three years have been studying Mandarin. I have been been practising Chinese calligraphy and have developed a keen interest in Chinese painting and brush techniques. I have produced five Chinese style-accordion fold-out books, eight wall panels and two fans, all of which focus on the social and environmental problems resulting from China’s extremely rapid launch into the current world of mechanization and industrialization.

My book, “Caged,” centers on the Chinese love of caged birds and shows members of the Chinese populace imprisoned, like birds, in poverty and poor living conditions. (The bird-flu scare happened to break out while I was juxtaposing photographs of chickens with women whose job was to watch over them.) The drab life of the poor, who are a significant percentage of the population of China, stands in great contrast to the colour and wealth of cities like Shanghai and Beijing, cities visited by Western tourists who only see urban industry and development.