How long does it take to make a book? A few months, perhaps? A year if it is a big one? Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson sometimes worked on a single volume for decades, adding beads and buttons to the cover as the years passed and the stories inside grew longer.
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson. Roll Books with Cord, Button Beaded Books, date unknown. Buttons, beads, thread, and fabric.
Robinson was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1940 and lived there until her death in 2015. From the 1980s she spent nearly thirty years making handmade books, which places her among the earliest recognised African American women to produce artist’s books. This month, Fort Gansevoort in New York opens Beaded and Bound, its second solo show of her work. Twenty-five books, textile pieces and dolls will be on view from 20 November to 16 January 2027.
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, Atrium Diary, 1987. Buttons, beads, thread, stamps, paint, fabric, parchment.
Some of her books unfold in several directions at once, releasing collage, paint, three-dimensional elements and even miniature books tucked inside bigger ones. A few carry no words at all, while others are crowded with her handwriting. The covers are encrusted with beads and stitching until they become sculptures in their own right...
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Image Credits:
Lead: 'Mama', Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson. Women in Poindexter Village, Button Beaded Book, 1989. Buttons, beads, thread, ink, paint, and fabric.
All images Copyright: Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Trust. Courtesy of Fort Gansevoort, New York, Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Trust, and Columbus Museum of Art.