Colette Fu Explained

Colette Fu
Birth Place:Princeton, New Jersey
Nationality:American Chinese
Occupation:Book artist, paper engineer, artist, photographer, teacher
Awards:Fulbright Scholarship, Leeway Transformation Award, En Foco New Award, Puffin Foundation Artist Grant, Society of Photographic Education Achievement Scholarship, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Artist Fellowship

Colette Fu is an American photographer, book artist and paper engineer known for creating pop-up books, especially on a large scale, from her photographs.

Early life and education

Fu, born in Princeton, New Jersey, is the daughter of mainland Chinese immigrants. After graduating from the University of Virginia, Fu traveled to China with a student tour and shortly returned for three years to teach English and, later, to study Mandarin and art in Yunnan Province. Fu traveled throughout Yunnan, where her mother, member of the Nuosu Yi community, was born, photographing various people in ethnic dress.[1] After returning to the United States, Fu studied photography at Virginia Commonwealth University and Rochester Institute of Technology, where she began collaging images into detailed hyperreal fantasy scenarios.

Career

She teaches pop-up courses and community workshops at art centers, universities and institutions internationally.[2] Her large-scale, three-dimensional pop-up books feature photographic images which extend towards the viewer for many layers. During an artist residency in Shanghai, Fu designed China's largest pop-up book.

Pop-up and flap books originally illustrated sociological ideas and scientific principles; she constructs her own books on how our selves relate to society today. In 2008, Fu was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to create a pop-up book of the 25 ethnic minority groups residing in Yunnan Province, China, from where the artist's mother's family descends. 25 of 55 minority tribes of China reside in Yunnan and comprise less than 9% of the nation's population, with the Han representing the majority. She uses her artistic skills to spread knowledge and provide a brief portrait of their existence.[3] [4] [5] [6]

Fu's well-received pop-up book series include:

Fu's commercial clients for paper engineering have included LVMH, Vogue China, Canon Asia, Greenpeace and Children's Medical Center in Texas.[8]

Fu's books are in collections including Library of Congress, Getty Research Institute, Yale University, Metropolitan Museum of Art and National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Technique

On a visit to her local Borders Book Store, Fu stumbled onto Robert Sabuda's Wizard of Oz pop-up book and was instantly enamored.[9] Fu then learned paper engineering mechanics by reverse engineering pop-up books purchased on eBay while attending numerous artist residencies.[10] [11]

Each of Fu's pop-up books are a single, large format spread. A good variety of her pop-up books are based on her experiences traveling to China and learning about her culture. Fu creates a digital collage using her own photographs on her computer, then "works on the pop-up mechanisms that cause her composition to explode from the page."[12] Fu does all the work herself, including printing and binding, and each pop-up element is cut by hand. Some books include up to 40 photographs and measure 3 x 4.5 feet.[9] An average pop-up can take up to four weeks to design and build.[13]

Extended study of Chinese minorities

Colette Fu's projects have taken her across the globe and can take years to fully materialize. With the help of a Fulbright fellowship, a recent endeavor found her in southwest Yunnan Province, China, where she studied the local population, learned about their culture and immersed herself in the daily life of its people. The project took ten years to complete, but resulted in some of Fu's most notable work.[14] [15]

Exhibitions

YearTitleLocation
2023Wishing Tree[16] Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island, WA
2022Medium & Message: The Book Art of Colette Fu and Lothar Meggendorfer[17] The Rosenbach, Philadelphia, PA
2021What the Butterfly Dragon Taught Me: Dimensional Stories in Paper[18] Center for Book Arts, NYC
2019We are Tiger Dragon PeopleTaubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA
2018We are Tiger Dragon PeoplePhillips Museum of Art at Franklin and Marshall College[19]
2017Tao Hua Yuan Ji: Source of the Peach BlossomsPhiladelphia Photo Arts Center
2016Wanderer/Wonderer: The Pop-up Books of Colette FuThe National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC,
catalog included[20]
2015Land of Deities [21] Georgetown University, Washington, DC
2013We are Tiger Dragon People & Photo Binge[22] Jaffe Center for Book Arts, Boca Raton, FL
2011Haunted Philadelphia[23] Philadelphia Athenaeum, Philadelphia, PA

Awards

Book contributions

External links

Notes and References

  1. Lovelace. Joyce. To Be Seen American Craft Council. American Craft Council. August 2015. November 25, 2016.
  2. Web site: Colette Fu .
  3. News: Colette Fu 2015 Exhibitions The Center for Book Arts . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170425204631/http://centerforbookarts.org/event/colette-fu/ . April 25, 2017 . 2017-04-24 . en-US.
  4. Web site: Colette Fu National Museum of Women in the Arts . November 25, 2016 . nmwa.org.
  5. Web site: July 13, 2014 . I Love Shanghai - pop-up book for Réel Shopping Mall . November 25, 2016 . YouTube.
  6. Web site: Marshall . Ray . July 17, 2014 . HUGE entry way pop-up by Colette Fu . November 25, 2016 . Flickr.
  7. Web site: Internationally-Renowned Colette Fu Builds World's Largest Pop-Up Book at Philadelphia Photo Arts Center. ArtfixDaily.
  8. Web site: Irish. Alex. The Perfect Pop-Up Art of Colette Fu. CF Magazine. November 25, 2016. May 12, 2014. April 15, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190415090509/http://www.creativefluff.com/arts/sculpture-arts/colette-fu-pop-up-art/. dead.
  9. Stinson. Liz. A Mind-Blowing Pop-Up Book Shows China's Vanishing Tribes. WIRED. November 25, 2016.
  10. Web site: Lofthouse. Gracie. The secret art of pop-up books – Libertine. Libertine. November 25, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161201143807/http://liberti.ne/editions/the-secret-art-of-pop-up-books/. December 1, 2016. dead.
  11. Web site: Yunnan Province in Three Dimensions. Lens Blog. The New York Times. MacDonald. Kerri. September 23, 2010. November 25, 2016.
  12. Web site: Hua. Vanessa. Ancient Art Revives Connection to a Culture Left Behind – NBC News. NBC News. November 21, 2014 . November 25, 2016.
  13. Web site: McGrory. Marie. It's a Photo! It's a Collage! It's a Pop-up!. https://web.archive.org/web/20150326004007/http://proof.nationalgeographic.com/2015/02/23/its-a-photo-its-a-collage-its-pop-up/. dead. March 26, 2015. Proof . November 25, 2016. February 23, 2015.
  14. Web site: Beautiful Journalistic Pop-Up Books by Colette Fu: Capturing the Diversity of China's Southwest Yunnan Province. 2013-11-12. Visual News. 2017-02-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20170207031626/https://www.visualnews.com/2013/11/12/beautiful-journalistic-pop-books-colette-fu-capturing-diversity-chinas-southwest-yunnan-province/. February 7, 2017. dead.
  15. Web site: St. Andrew's-Sewanee School. Colette Fu Pop-Up Book Structures. Shakerag Workshops. 6 February 2017.
  16. Web site: Artist in Residence: Colette Fu – Bainbridge Island Museum of Art . 2024-05-09 . www.biartmuseum.org.
  17. Web site: Medium & Message: The Book Art of Colette Fu and Lothar Meggendorfer . The Rosenbach . 25 August 2021.
  18. Web site: What the Butterfly Dragon Taught Me. 2022-02-05. Center for Book Arts. en-US.
  19. Web site: College Events Calendar. www.fandm.edu. en. 2018-12-07.
  20. Book: Fu. Colette. Wasserman. Krystyna. Wanderer/Wonderer: Pop-Ups by Colette Fu : October 14, 2016 – February 26, 2017.. November 25, 2016. English. January 1, 2016. 962923876.
  21. Web site: Exhibition: Pop-up Books by Colette Fu. art.georgetown.edu. November 25, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161201211234/https://art.georgetown.edu/2015-Jan-13-Fu. December 1, 2016. dead.
  22. Web site: Jaffee Center of Art Book Art. www.library.fau.edu. November 25, 2016.
  23. Web site: Athenaeum of Philadelphia Newsletter. www.philaathenaeum.org. November 25, 2016. June 24, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160624061158/http://www.philaathenaeum.org/newsletter/v.4-n.1/v.4-n.1.html#3. dead.
  24. Web site: Colette Fu. 2022-02-05. Joan Mitchell Foundation. October 21, 2020 . en.
  25. Web site: Colette Fu Pop-up Books. COLETTE FU 傅 三 三. en-US. 2018-12-07.
  26. Web site: Awards » Movable Book Society. 2022-02-05. en-US.
  27. Web site: Colette Fu Pop-up Books . COLETTE FU 傅 三 三 . 15 February 2022.
  28. Web site: 2017 - 2018 Project Stream Grantees . Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance . 15 February 2022 . en . 10 October 2017.
  29. Web site: Colette Fu, Fellow The Center for Emerging Visual Artists. www.cfeva.org. November 25, 2016. December 1, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161201211144/https://www.cfeva.org/fellow-profile/colette-fu-fellow. dead.
  30. Web site: Colette Fu - trace SWATCH ART PEACE HOTEL. www.swatch-art-peace-hotel.com. en. 2017-08-17.
  31. News: Colette Fu LTA '13. Leeway Foundation. 2017-04-17.
  32. Web site: Colette Fu. www.puffinfoundation.org. 2017-04-17. December 20, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161220152204/http://www.puffinfoundation.org/grantees/artists/268-colette-fu.html. dead.
  33. Web site: Independence Foundation » View Past Recipients. Miguel. Tavares. independencefoundation.org. en. 2017-04-17. April 21, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170421135929/http://independencefoundation.org/fellowships/fellowships-in-the-arts/view-past-recipients/. dead.
  34. Web site: Archived copy . December 14, 2016 . December 3, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161203200957/http://www.arts.virginia.gov/grants/pdf/Fellowship_Announce_06_07.pdf . dead .
  35. http://dev.enfoco.org/exhibitions/exhibitions/view/66/new-works-7{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
  36. Book: Smith. Esther. Making Books with Kids: 25 Paper Projects to Fold, Sew, Paste, Pop, and Draw. 2016. Quarry Books. 978-1631590818.
  37. Book: Hiebert. Helen. Playing with pop-ups : the art of dimensional, moving paper designs. 2014. 978-1592539086.

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