The work produced by Crooked Letter Press is the synthesis of images and words, typically in the form of letterpress printed handmade books and printed matter. Some of my recent work includes contemporary print methods such as the RISOgraph.

The research interests for my books run the gamut of geology, mathematics, biology, gender, and climate. My portrayal of these topics is a variable balance of the poetic and the scientific. The fluidity of words and image oscillate between fact and artistic translation. I am interested in the distillation of a subject using typography and image within the physical book, while exploring the boundaries of the book form. The pursuit of my work is the portrayal of a visual environment specific to its content in which the reader is an active participant; the typography is to be viewed, the graphic depictions to be read, and the pages to be moved. Reading is a sequential and time-based process and my focus on the book lies in the opportunity to guide a reader’s progression through the visual environment of paper, words, and image. Each book is like a gallery space. It can hold as many as 30 prints inside its pages while the typography points the reader’s way through. The object not only contains art prints; the book itself is art.

The process of a book involves intimacy and acute observation. The book is my way to simultaneously confront and elucidate a topic and that is ultimately what drives my work.

Ellen Knudson is a book artist and designer producing handmade books under the imprint Crooked Letter Press. She holds an MFA in Book Arts from The University of Alabama. She is currently Sr. Associate in Book Arts at The University of Florida where she curates the book arts collection in the Special and Area Studies Collections library and teaches Book Arts and Letterpress in the School of Art and Art History. In addition, she is the creator and coordinator of The Coffey Residency in Book Arts program at University of Florida. Ellen has been a book artist and graphic designer for 30 years including graphic design positions at The Art Institute of Chicago and The Detroit Institute of Arts. She has taught letterpress printing and book arts at The University of Florida, The University of Alabama, and graphic design at Mississippi State University and Wayne State University, as well as letterpress & book arts workshops around the country. She has served on the board of directors for the College Book Arts Association and Fine Press Book Association and is currently Vice-Chair for CBAA Scholarships and Advertising Coordinator for FPBA. Her work is in the collections of The Library of Congress, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Yale University, Wits Art Museum, Ampersand Foundation Library, Johannesburg, South Africa, Book Arts Museum of Lodz, Lodz, Poland, and many other national and international collections.

Contact Info

Crooked Letter Press
ellen@crookedletterpress.com

Gainesville, Florida