Books bring to life entire worlds and characters, expand our knowledge and deepen our humanity. And that's just when we read the words. What more is there? Award-winning master book artist Julie Chen has multiple answers to that question, and her work takes our engagement with books to another level.

“;The work of a book artist consists of works of art that are in the form of books, instead of the form of, say, painting or sculpture,”; she explains. The books are “;a creative exploration of a topic ... a path of discovery.”;

Chen is in town as a visiting artist with the Honolulu Printmakers to teach her craft—intricate, labor-intensive books that are often 3-D and sculptural—in a five-day workshop.

Why books in particular?

“;I love the intimacy of the book form,”; says Chen, who teaches book art at Mills College and around the country during the summer. “;The viewer gets to hold the book in their hands and feel the paper and other materials included in the piece. The other thing I love ... is that it's a time-based media, very much like film. The full narrative is not revealed all at once, but only over time as the viewer reads each page one after the other.”;

CHEN, WHO GREW UP in Southern California and New Jersey, says her mother always encouraged crafting, and “;this interest in making things stayed with me.”;

After learning about book arts, Chen opened Flying Fish Press in 1987. This is where she produces her work, which is avidly amassed by private collectors, museums and university special-collections libraries.

“;I publish one edition of books a year, usually in an edition of 100 copies. I spend between three to six months working on the design of the piece doing things like writing text, developing images and developing the physical structure of the book,”; she says.

“;All my books are printed letterpress using a Vandercook proof press. This involves printing one color at a time. I am able to design my work on a computer and then have photopolymer plastic plates made that can be printed on my press. After designing the book, I print all the text and images, usually on large sheets of paper that will eventually be cut to size and folded in various ways.

“;My books tend to be very labor-intensive to assemble, and (my assistant and I) can usually only complete three to four copies a month.”;

Chen has extended her imaginative and elaborate work one step further by producing board games as well. This form allows further interaction between her audience and her art.

“;I came up with the idea ... in order to allow the reader/viewer to become part of the creating process instead of just being a passive viewer of art, as is usually the case,”; she says.