KAILEE VIATOR BATSON -- Mixed media visual artist

   Many artists keep a sketchbook of their ideas and research, I maintain what I call an altered book journal. They are repurposed thrifted hardcover books filled with collage, painting, drawing, writing, and assorted memorabilia. These journals encompass ideas and experiments for larger works as well as personal life documentation.

   My journaling process receives a lot of attention for its highly personal nature, the accessibility for anyone to do something similar, and their extreme layering of materials. I have demonstrated some of these techniques to the art students of Galveston College while exhibiting two of my books in a group exhibition in their gallery.

   Working in this way originated for me as an assignment from my beloved high school art teacher. She gave us each a book from a thrift store and instructed us to experiment with any and all media within its pages. I continued on with this for a couple of years prior to moving on to college. I revisited my altered books a few times until truly reconnecting with this practice in 2022. I have since filled up three books, each containing around fifty two-page spreads.