Book Sort

Book Sort is an exhibition of 25 large photographs by Theresa Rae currently on view at The North Bank Artists Gallery in Vancouver, WA. The series, which is part of Rae's larger body of work titled Questions of Identity, documents Rae's process of unpacking and re-shelving her library after a move.


Rae says:

Everyone has their own way of finding answers. I had to rebuild my world through sorting and solitude. Book Sort documents four days of living with my books as they transitioned from storage to shelves in my home. Because these books have contributed so much to my identity,
I needed to re-bond with them en masse and give myself a sacred time and place to rediscover them individually, in order to decide which ones would remain with me. As an artist, I gave myself permission to step away from conventional methods and experience this transition in my own personal way, without judgment or parameters. I let the project evolve according to its own needs. The camera allows me to be "in the moment" and build my own context. The quietness of the barn, an hour from town--on the hillside by the river, the closeness to nature, time to think and be, personal time with idea people and their books--gave me room to grow and become myself. I am building my life by my choices.