Sarah Bodman
Dr Sarah Bodman is Associate Professor for Artists’ Books at the Centre for Print Research (CFPR), where she run projects investigating and promoting contemporary book arts. Sarah is also Subject Lead for MA Fine Art Printmaking at City Campus, Bower Ashton.
She is the editor of the Artist’s Book Yearbook a biennial reference publication on contemporary book arts, published here at UWE by Impact Press, and also edits the Book Arts Newsletter and The Blue Notebook journal for artists’ books. Sarah writes a column on artists’ books for the journal Printmaking Today and has written for other journals including Art In Print; Axon: Creative Explorations; IMPRINT; JAB; PLI Arte & Design; The Poetry Society; The New Bookbinder; zum Beispiel / zum Buch.
Sarah also works with library staff at UWE to deliver exhibitions and public engagement with artists’ books; organises the biennial Bristol Artist’s Book Event (BABE) and our annual World Book Night project. She also runs the Artists’ Books Partnership-exhibition Programme (ABPP) which loans books from the CFPR archive.
Sarah completed a two-year AHRC funded research project with Tom Sowden in 2010 which investigated the current state of artists’ publishing. In 2018 she worked with artists and academics in Australia, Brazil and the UK on a UWE funded project Artists’ Books in Australia and Brazil. She ran the Scandinavian Artists’ Books Partnership Project, supported by the Nordic Culture Council from 2020 until 2022. Sarah is currently collaborating with Noriko Suzuki-Bosco on a Japan/UK artists’ books exhibition project for 2025-2026.
Sarah has given keynotes for ARLIS and ABBE (Brisbane) Booknesses (Johannesburg); and papers / presentations at Artists’ books v. Livres d’artistes (St Etienne), Directed: The Intersection of Book, Film And Visual Narrative (Minneapolis), Impact 7 (Melbourne), Perspectivas do Livro de Artista (Belo Horizonte), Resurrecting the Book (Birmingham), Small Press Atlas (Rouen), Women: Art, Books and Printed Matter (Hauser & Wirth, Somerset).
Sarah regularly gives public lectures and surgeries for organisations and events such as ARLIS, Arnolfini, Artlab, The Association of Art Historians, Festival of Ideas, London Centre for Book Arts, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, The Society of Bookbinders, State Library of Victoria, Kristiansand Art and Literature House, Norway, Paper Ink Print Festival, UK.
Solo shows of her work have been held at: Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea L. Barbera, Messina, Italy; Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY, USA; Winchester School of Art Library; Collins Memorial Library, Puget Sound USA and the John M. Flaxman Library, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Sarah is now completing artworks with artist and writer Roelof Bakker on their mail art and collage project This Place Will Not Exist… 2023-2024, which will result in a publication, artist’s book and exhibition in 2025.
Recent juror / committee / editorial board memberships include: Center for Book Arts New York, USA; Designer Bookbinders UK Bookbinding Competition; Médiatiser Le Livre D’artiste En Bibliothèque, France; Inscription: the Journal of Material Text – Theory, Practice, History; L’oeuvre multipliée au prisme de la collection et de l’archive, France; turn the page artist’s book event, UK; MCBA Book Art Biennial Prize, USA; Absence and Presence artists’ books conference, Wrocław Poland.
She is currently supervising 6 doctoral students.
