Exploring the combination of the uncommon and unexpected
About
Bound by Cooksey is the Washington, USA based bookbinding studio of artist and craftswoman Gabby Cooksey.
This is the story of Gabby Cooksey.
Right out of high school in 2010 I went to college at Columbus College of Art and Design. I did very well there and it was a great school, but I knew college just wasn't right for me. I wanted to be doing what I wanted right then and there, not four years down the line. So I spent most of time at the Columbus Metropolitan Library and happened upon a book about books.
It had gilding, leather, beautiful designs, and I said, "This is exactly what I want to do."
So in 2011, I went to American Academy of Bookbinding in Telluride, CO. My first bookbinding teacher was Don Glaister. Then I attended North Bennet Street School in Boston, MA from 2012-2014 and graduated from their bookbinding program.
I am a trained traditional bookbinder with experience in book conservation.
I knew I wanted to work under someone once I finished NBSS because I still felt like there were important things to learn about running a bindery. I contacted Don Glaister and after initially thinking there wouldn't be enough work for an apprentice, he responded with his wife, Suzanne Moore, that they came across some work that they could use me for.
In February of 2014, I flew to Washington state, took a ferry to Vashon Island and stayed.
I started in June of 2014, working on Don's Edgar Allen Poe edition and Suzanne's "Zero" edition book. I have also began working at Springtide Press for Jessica Spring in Tacoma, WA.
When asked, why I do what I do it is really because I love it. There is nothing quite like holding a physical book, especially when the person who made it has spent so much time lovingly putting it together. Craft is important to show where I have come from (past binders), and the design is important because that's where I'm headed (myself as an artist).
I design books in a peculiar and unexpected way that makes it enticing to hold/open. I think of my books as art that you can use.
I hope other people feel this too when they interact with my work. I want them to pick my books up and wonder, “What the heck??” in the nicest way possible. I add hidden items, bones, feathers, teeth, and odd leather to my bindings because I want people to get close up and hold it.
I want them to open the book up because of the cover I put on it.
Presentations:
Library of Congress, Modernism and the Book: Literature, Fine Binding and Books by Artist - 2023
Boston Athenaeum, Materialia Lumina. Collaborative Making as Creative Catalyst for Artists’ Books - 2023
Competitions & Exhibitions
Open Set. American Academy of Bookbinding. 2025. Helen Fragments.
Most Unique Design award.
Designer Bookbinders International Competition. Touring in Oxford, London and Scotland. 2022-2023
Silver Prize award.
Dark Archives Exhibition. One time show at the Mutter Museum, Philadelphia. 2021
Reclamation: Artists’' Books on the Environment. San Francisco Center for the Book. San Francisco, CA. 2021
More things from between 2015 and 2020.
Professional Affiliations
Guild of Bookworkers 2012 - Present
Puget Sound Book Artists 2015 - Present
Training & Education
North Bennet Street School. Boston, MA. 2012 - 2014.
Instructors: Jeff Altepeter and Martha Kearsley
Montefiascone Conservation Project. Montefiascone, Italy.
American Academy of Bookbinding. Telluride, CO. 2011- 2012