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Naomi Yamaguchi Rambo Interns at SCAP

Published April 24, 2019

from FSU Art BA ’19 Naomi Yamaguchi Rambo:

“Walking into SCAP (Small Craft Advisory Press), you’re surrounded by books of all forms, many of which are so elaborate they hardly look like books at all. Initially I wondered if I was in over my head, if I was capable of helping in the process of making all these intricate structures. But over the course of my internship, I was able to understand how these books came to be. I quickly learned that there are many revised plans and seemingly endless small steps that go into making these incredible books. SCAP is a printmaking studio located in the Facility for Arts Research building. Because of this, SCAP has access to many of the new technologies that the facility has to offer like laser cutting, 3D printing, and CNC routing. SCAP is not like other presses, they are using the latest processes within art, and have a very unique approach to artists’ books. Many of the books are collaborative projects between a variety of creative thinkers from far away places or right down the street.

I worked alongside the press manager Elysia Mann, and learned many of these small steps and was able to help with the prototype of the book Fashioning; a collaborative book by FSU Art Professor Denise Bookwalter and artist Lee Running. We worked on everything from dying paper, building boxes which house each book, and wrapping those boxes. We also laser cut, wrapped, and constructed various pieces for the book Build-Up. There are so many different pieces and processes that go into all of the books being created at SCAP, and it was an amazing experience getting to see all these pieces come together to complete a finished product.

Along with hands-on experience in making artists’ books, I was also interested in seeing the networking aspect of a press to help with my own work in the future. I was given the opportunity to help document some of the books and create short animations of the content from the Oyster Boat books to be posted on SCAP’s various social media platforms. Books are much more difficult to capture in a photo unlike a painting or sculpture, so I found it important to learn how SCAP did this.

Thanks to Elysia, my co-worker Cassie Andrews, and Denise, I was able to learn all these new skills with ease and at my own pace. All the people at SCAP are willing to give their interns the best work experience they can. Although it was a job, I enjoyed my time at SCAP very much and will not forget the connections I made and the lessons I learned. I would recommend this internship to anyone interested in printmaking and book arts.”