Old Prints, New Booklets & Mail Art

I’ve made many linocuts and woodcuts since the 1970s, some of which I’ve sold and given as gifts or hung on my walls.  But I have a great many that I’ve stored in a box and carried with me.  They’ve been accusing me of neglect for several years.  I have finally, this month, begun paying them the attention they deserve.

Kapoks Touching Linocut by Lily S. May, made in 1974 under my former married name.

I’ve decided to keep one or two copies of each print and use the remaining copies to make other art work.  So far I’ve begun folding and cutting the prints into origami booklets.  I’ve also sewn, coloured and crumpled them as I like.  This has been tremendously satisfying.  The process goes against perfectionism and is freeing.

Kapoks Touching Booklet made by Lily S. May in 2013, sent out as mail art.

I may put some of this work in my etsy shop, but for now I’ve sent one of the booklets out as my first piece of mail art.  I first learned about mail art a couple of years ago.  Mail art or postal art consists of small pieces of art sent to and from artists all over the world.  Usually if you receive a piece of mail art, you send something back to the artist it came from.

Kapoks Touching Booklet, by Lily S. May, 2013

If you’d like to receive mail art from me, just contact me.  Send me your name and address and I’ll send you something as soon as I make it.  

And, if you’d like to send me mail art or writing  just contact me for my address which changes from time to time. Any subject matter other than porn or work advocating hate is fine. As a rough idea of the size, please keep it on the small side. Say, no larger than a  greeting card or postcard.  Thanks!