Silk and Secrecy
Text by Emoretta Yang
Book design by Kumi Korf
Ithaca, New York: Kumi Korf, 1985. Edition 20.

15 x 11", 10 pages including free end page. Photo offset, xerography. Materials: Japanese paper, silk thread, museum board, foam core board, book cloth.

Kumi Korf, In & Out of Sculptural Books: "I discovered my passion for book arts when creating the collaborative piece 'Silk and Secrecy.' I needed a book structure that could hold both traditional letterset text pages as well as a three-dimensional collage; I was searching for a form that would open and close effortlessly, behave as an ordinary book, but also hold a surprise for the reader. After a few missteps, I found a solution. Since that time, artists' books, and particularly the process of inventing new structures, has been an enduring passion."

Cerritos Public Library: "With text by Emoretta Yang, Silk and Secrecy obtains literary histories of silk and its importance in the ancient and modern worlds. The book opens to reveal a cut-out window through which long spools of handmade paper covered with multicolored strands of silk threads can be seen. The piece is the first part of Kumi Korf's Figured Silks series."

So carefully did the ancient Seres guard the secret of silk-making that in the first century Pliny would report that silk was a product of their forests.

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