There are mobiles of paper goldfinches flying, falling raindrops, and flower bursts along with fanciful collages and small, carefully crafted books. Such intriguing pieces you will find in the Charlottesville, Virginia studio of mixed media artist Jennifer Billingsly.

“I have always loved books and words and have strong memories of my first childhood books and stories,” Billingsly remembers. “In my mid 20s I picked up a camera and this opened up a new world for me. I devoured photography books and really began to think about visual storytelling.” 

At that time, Billingsly worked part-time at a local gallery, education center and darkroom. She was exposed to the work of many local photographers and artists including Lindsey Mears, a book artist and photographer who sparked her interest in book art.

She also credits the influence of poet Emily Dickinson and writer Robert Macfarlane, the work of sculptors Rachel Whiteread. Ruth Asawa, and Louise Bourgeois, assemblage artist Joseph Cornell, textile artist Alice Fox, figurative artists Kiki Smith and El Anatsui and mobile artist Alexander Calder.

To further her fascinations, Billingsly spent hours in a darkroom and soon took classes at Virginia Book Arts. Her classes ranged from letterpress and bookbinding to paper making and eco-printing as well as printmaking. In 2019, she joined the McGuffey Art Center, which gave her both time and space to develop an art practice. She also studied kinetic sculpture at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. 

Billingsly now works in a variety of mediums. ”I am more and more interested in incorporating kinetic movement and dimension into my work. I particularly enjoy working with mobiles, assemblage and sculpture. I primarily use the same materials (linen thread and hand-printed paper and found objects) as in making a book. I want to find a way to better incorporate metal work into my pieces.

“My mobiles play with multiples and movement,” she notes. The goldfinch mobile (above) was an altered book project. She used a paperback copy of the novel The Goldfinch to create small silk screened goldfinches. “I love the way it has aged and how the mass market paper has curled and yellowed and continues to change the piece–a truly altered book project.”

Billingsly defines book art as a medium of artistic expression that uses the form or function of “book” as inspiration. “The process always begins with an idea that forms in my head often while I am walking. Sometimes a found object will be the inspiration. I usually have multiple ideas and projects that revolve around similar themes—time and nature, as well as the stories that are tied to personal domestic space and objects, and place,” she says.

Her coiled book is a coptic-bound book. It is made with flax and Japanese paper cut into various sized circles. “I was pointing to all the twists and turns in our experiences that are uncontrollable and unknowable,” says Billingsly. “It really ended up being more about structure and really is a delight to hold. I think it feels playful which was a nice twist on the original idea.

“I often have miniature blank books, photographs, old letters and book pages, keys, watch pieces, and feathers as a sort of personal iconography that I use again and again to create the idea of a story as an invitation.”

For her collages, Billingsly uses hand-printed paper as a cohesive element. She usually creates a series of works that center around an idea or a series of photographs. “I really love to work with cyanotypes that are toned and bleached in a variety of ways. A few collages were inspired by close-ups of hands in 19th century daguerreotype. “These women,” she says, “were often holding notes and books and seemed full of mystery.”

Stirred by nature, Billingsly loves to garden and to be outside. “I find both very grounding,” she says, “ My garden is always a little tangled and just barely controlled; I love the tangled corners. I am always squirreling away things that I find on my walks and these leavings/offerings often find their way into my studio and work. They are the things that I find when I slow down and they feel like little gifts.”

Billingsly is currently working towards a group show in October at the McGuffey Art Center. All the artists will incorporate paper and encaustic, a new medium for Billingsly, into their pieces. 

By Elizabeth Meade Howard, Art Editor

Jennifer Billingsly has lived in Charlottesville, Va. since 1997. She works part-time at The Kluge-Ruhe Art Collection. She has shown regionally in Charlottesville, including at McGuffey, Second Street Gallery, and at the Beverly Street Studio Gallery. She hopes to become more involved in teaching at Virginia Book Art.