Artist Member
Mountains with Clouds
Mountains with Rivers
Bamboo Slip Books
Robyn Ellenbogen
www.robynellenbogen.com
Instagram: @robynellenbogen
BIO 
Robyn Ellenbogen combines abstract imagery relating to interior landscapes informed by a long standing interest in microscopy. Her exploration of the unseen universe is enhanced through collaborative work with scientists and residencies in hospitals and laboratories resulting in work that includes drawings in metalpoint, animations, artist books, paper pulp and textiles. This work has been widely shown throughout the United States at galleries and museums along with with online exhibitions and magazines.
Robyn incorporates a visual arts practice along with being an ordained Buddhist priest. As a teaching artist she has worked extensively with chronically ill and dying children in hospital and hospice settings. She is dedicated to a group of refugee children from Central America and together combines exploring the arts with mindfulness practice.
ARTIST’S STATEMEMT
I lived in a house surrounded by a large grove of bamboo. The evolution of my bamboo slip books emerged over many years. This cycle of book making was in tandem with my practice in Zen Buddhism. I have a long-standing love of Asian art. This feeling and my practice intertwined as my connection to bamboo deepened by way of the poetry, art, history, and ancient texts related to Buddhism.
Chinese books began as thin slips of bamboo connected by thongs and used like paged books or scrolls. Recovered from tombs, the oldest of these dates back to the third or fourth century B.C.E. The significance of bamboo in Buddhism traces back to the time of the Buddha. The symbolism of flexibility, strength and simplicity continue to shape Buddhist culture and practice.
My bamboo slip books encompass drawing, sewing, and the addition of assorted organic materials such as stones, seeds, moss, and wood. Many books are inspired by my readings of ancient sutras. These texts evolve through making the books and continue to suggest a way to move forward in difficult times.