Glimpses Into The Distance

I've always admired the work of Nick Bantok. He is the author of over twenty books, and I have a calendar of his images, a gorgeous twelve month adventure. He wrote the Griffin & Sabine Trilogy, which is an esoteric mystical mystery based out of reading love letters - which appear in full as the text of the book.


He works in collage, creating fantastical images by combining many things that don't seem to work together.
Using ephemera, his own drawings and paintings, he conjures up magical worlds. If you like color and collage, and you're not familiar with Nick Bantok, you can most likely find his books at the library. And they are working looking over, even if you don't like his images or color choices they are inspirational.


I have his book "Urgent Second Class" - explaining how he uses his materials and ideas for expanding the use of ephemera in collage. He also has a line of fantastical rubber stamps, and creates faux postal items and faux postage.

I also have his book "The Gryphon" that was published in 2001, and "The Forgetting Room" which is also a mystery of a sort and was published earlier than Gryphon.


There's an interview with him, done in 2001, in January Magazine, with more insights into his work, history and background. And an interview at the website for Columbia University, describing one of his books and how it seems to have crossed from literature to reality and back again.

And a wonderful glimpse into his idea of storytelling related to Myth, at the Kennedy Center's ArtsEdge.