Outsiders and Others presents:
The Book: A group exhibition of artist books.
November 7-28, 2026
Artist featured in this exhibition are:
Anne Marie Grgich, Oury Haquette, Scotty Colin, Trisha Lavoie, Robin Smith, ARGH!!, Seema Shah, Clare Dygert, Liz Ruest, Chanda Junck, David Ruhlman, Alejandra Montemayor, Chris Zajko and Brett Zu.
This November, we’re excited to share an exhibition featuring 13 artists making artists’ books.
Artists’ books are works of art in the form of a book. For decades, artists have created works that challenge traditional ideas of what a “book” can be, both physically and intellectually.
Artists’ books have evolved from beautifully illustrated manuscripts to creative works of art in their own right. In the early 1900s, artists began experimenting with books, using unusual layouts, bold typography, and images to communicate ideas in new ways. By the 1960s and 1970s, affordable printing made artists’ books more accessible, allowing artists to share their work with a wider audience. Artists such as Ed Ruscha helped redefine what a book could be. Today, artists’ books take many forms, combining photography, drawing, printmaking, and sculpture to create unique and personal experiences for readers.
Related events:
Nov 7 from 6-8pm Opening reception - Free
Nov 25 from 7-9pm Chapbook making and poetry workshop with Kevin Spenst - $35
Tickets available on our website www.outsidersandothers.com
Anne Marie Grgich (b. 1961) is an acclaimed self-taught artist whose work has garnered international recognition in the Outsider and visionary art communities. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, she began creating art at the age of fifteen, often using the inside pages of books and found objects as her canvas. Her artistic journey took a transformative turn in 1981 following a severe car accident that resulted in a traumatic brain injury. During her recovery, she found solace and expression through drawing and writing, solidifying her commitment to art as a central aspect of her life.
In 1987, Grgich was awarded a full scholarship to attend senior classes at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. However, the responsibilities of single parenthood led her to decline the offer. Undeterred, she continued to develop her artistic practice independently, gaining recognition as a self-taught artist. Her work was first exhibited at Jamison/Thomas Gallery in Portland in 1995, and she soon became known as an Outsider artist. In 1998, Grgich's art was featured as the cover story in Raw Vision Magazine, a significant milestone that led to representation by numerous galleries.
By 2006, Grgich expanded her role in the art community by curating traveling exhibitions. She also began exhibiting internationally, with shows in Australia, France, and Canada. In 2018, her art was featured on clothing by the fashion house Comme des Garçons, further elevating her profile. She has been a regular participant in the Outsider Art Fair in New York and has curated exhibitions such as "The Museum of UnNatural History" at Shoreline City Hall in Washington in 2019.
Grgich's work is included in several prestigious collections, including the Cynthia Sears Book Collection at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art in Washington, and the Smithsonian Folk Art Collection. She has received grants from the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation and the NY Artists’ Fellowship Inc. Her art has been featured in numerous publications, including Raw Vision Magazine and World of Art Outsider Art by Colin Rhodes.
Currently based in Tacoma, Washington, Anne Marie Grgich continues to create art that explores themes of transformation, memory, and the human experience. She remains an active curator and collaborator, working both in the United States and abroad, and is dedicated to supporting and mentoring fellow artists.
Anne Marie Grgich
The Human Self-Portraits
10” x 9” x 2”
Mixed media collage
$5,000 USD + tax
#2026811
Liz Ruest
An old spelling book for children, Growth in Spelling, with paper collage and scribbles added, is both an altered book itself, and the source material for a newly printed book. The new book was built from each set of pages in the old book: scanned onto the computer, layered with more colour and other digital collage, and assembled back into the same page order as the old book.
The new book (Spelling it Out, the altered altered book) is 128 pages of original digital collage, available only in this format.
​
Liz Ruest merges digital layers of handmade art and ephemera to create abstracted compositions, ranging from recognizable landscapes to textured fields that only hint at the horizon. Based in Seattle for many years, Ruest’s work has been shown regularly since 2001. She has been represented by a small gallery in Seattle, Lynn Hanson Gallery, since 2017. Originally from Ontario, the artist now lives and works in Vancouver. Her formal education in technical fields (B.Math, University of Waterloo, M. Sci, University of Washington) has been supplemented since 2000 with regular, continuing education in printmaking, photography, collage, and composition, to supplement her self-taught explorations in digital and analog multimedia.
As an avid reader, pages full of text call to me as substrate and inspiration, and for this project especially, the result was a new book full of inspiration. Starting in 2022, I slowly collaged the page spreads in this delightful spelling exercise book, until after two years, they started to have a completed look. But not quite! I scanned each spread, and continued to work on them, adding digital layers to all 128 pages throughout 2024. Finally, I realized the new versions just needed to be reassembled as their own book, completing the circle.
Liz Ruest
Original collaged source book
Growth In Spelling
7.5” x 5.5” x 3.5”
Mixed media collage on book
NOT FOR SALE
#2026792
Liz Ruest
Altered altered book
Spelling it Out
12” x 9” x .25”
Signed open edition
$80 + tax
#2026793
Seema Shah is a self-taught mixed media collage artist and writer based in Vancouver. Working intuitively, her collages are a reflection of her inner world. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, the US, and the UK. Seema was a recipient of The Beaumont Studios Artist To Watch Award 2022 and shortlisted twice for the Contemporary Collage Magazine Awards.
Artist Statement:
My visual art and writing are rooted in personal narrative and memory. I’m drawn to collage because it lends itself particularly well to the expression of complex and layered narratives. Spontaneous associations and unexpected juxtapositions bring subconscious and embodied “knowing” to the surface, often through the language of metaphor and symbolic imagery.
I have experimented with a variety of 2D & 3D surfaces that bring new possibilities to storytelling. Wooden blocks and matchboxes can show many interrelated sides to a story. Vintage envelopes and book covers add an aesthetic connection to the past. Most recently, I’ve worked with children’s board books, which allow for a narrative to unfold over several pages.
Seema Shah
A Question Best Left Unasked
6.5" x 5" x 0.5"
Mixed media collage on children's board book
$475 + tax
#2026805
Seema Shah
A Long Time Ago
6.5" x 5" x 0.5"
Mixed media collage on children's board book
$475 + tax
#2026806
Seema Shah
These Ups and Downs
2 3/8" x 2.3/8" x 0.5"
Mixed media collage on paper
(accordion book)
$150 + tax
#2026807
Hello
I am ARGH!! An arghist cartoonist painter collagist found object readymade diorama maker and toy collector.
Sometimes I am Nick Mitchum. Social media critic commentator curator and sit down comic.
Sometimes I am the drunk mailman. Internet poet and reporter.
Sometimes I am Ken Forster. All of the above.
Born in 1954. I started doodling at a very early age. Inspired and influenced by television in the 1950s and 60s …cartoons…old movies…the news…underground comic books…The Realist…Ernie Bushmiller and the atomic bomb. My argh is a tribute to the art and artists that made the strongest impressions on me in my life.
I show and sell my argh at various comic book and toy and pop memorabilia collectable shows.
I created the D.O.A. Punk Rock Coloring Fun Book in 1985. That earned me my 15 seconds of fame. Mentions in some local newspapers and on television.
My first published comic strip was in the first issue of the Richmond underground newspaper The Daily Daily Day After Day Daily in 1971. The name and headline was inspired by my comic strip.
ARGH!!
To boldly go where no man has gone before
Mixed media collage
12” x 10” x 1.5”
$100 + tax
#2026810
Chandra Junck
Bound by a paper star belt, this sculptural concertina artist book unfolds to reveal the galaxy. Constructed from an original watercolour painting, the image extends across both sides of the paper, creating the illusion of infinite space. Through the act of tying ribbons, the book further transforms into a celestial form.
Chandra Junck is a self-taught abstract artist based in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Her practice explores memory and the coexistence of emotional contradictions through celestial imagery and imagined landscapes.
Working with the fluid and unpredictable nature of watercolour, she navigates the tension between intention and spontaneity, building compositions through layered washes, repeated forms, and the use of positive and negative space. She creates paintings, sculptural artist books, and collectible works. Junck has exhibited in community exhibitions throughout the Lower Mainland.
Chandra Junck
Celestial Concertina, 2026
7 x 18 inches, assembled as star, with ribbons outstretched
Watercolour on paper, adhesive, ribbons
Not For Sale
#2026794
Chandra Junck
Orion Nebula no. 1, 2026
2 x 2 1/2” inches, assembled as a star
watercolour on paper, metallic brad
$75 + tax
#2026795
​
​
​
​​​​
​​Chandra Junck
Orion Nebula no. 2, 2026
2 x 2 1/2” inches, assembled as a star
watercolour on paper, metallic brad
$75 + tax
#2026796
​
​
​
​​​​​​
Chandra Junck
Orion Nebula no. 3, 2026
2 x 2 1/2” inches, assembled as a star
watercolour on paper, metallic brad
$75 + tax
#2026797
​
Chandra Junck
Orion Nebula no. 4, 2026
2 x 2 1/2” inches, assembled as a star
watercolour on paper, metallic brad
$75 + tax
#2026798
Clare S. Dygert is a low-vision, self-taught artist who makes esoteric paintings, altered photographic-based images, and book art. Her work is conceptual, intuitive, and atmospheric. Clare’s work tells a story that you might not be able to read.
Clare lives in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
Clare Dygert
The Acolytes
9” x 30”
Watercolor and ink
$750 USD + tax
#2026801
Clare Dygert
Spirit Writing in Two Volumes
4.5” x 31” each
Watercolor, ink, collage
$600 USD + tax
#2026800
Clare Dygert
A Spell to Raise the Moon
(in the Original Language)
4.5” x 31” x .25”
Watercolor and ink
$350 USD + tax
#2026799
David Ruhlman is an artist and educator based in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. His work experiments with form, repetition, and narrative to explore our foundational myths. He has shown nationally and internationally. His most recent exhibits were Yogi Not Yogi and The Messenger at the Alice R. Rogers and Target Gallery at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, MN.
Here is a little bit about the book.
During about 1998-2001 I created about 40-45 handmade books. I started making these books after a friend gave me the front and back cover of a small old book, I decided to sew some pages in and drew/collaged/painted on them. I loved the process, materiality of the book and its given nature. I slowly learned to somewhat bind the books and continued on from there.
I thought of each book as its own, and had specific stories, ideas I wanted to explore. This process allowed me to experiment with form, color, ideas that I was interested in. I liked the insular and personal aspect to the books and think I kept those qualities once I started painting.
David Ruhlman
A life leading towards disappearance/ Die Frau, Die War / Die Frau, Die War Book
7.5” x 5.5” x .25”
Dirt, mixed media, graphite, oil pastel / reconstructed book
$100 USD + tax / SOLD
#2026802
Oury Haquette
All my work is a correspondence, a conversation between three practices: drawing, sewing and writing, which exchange ideas, intermingle and resonate with one another.
If I draw trees, I also sew branches onto a dress, a unique book page, a piece of cotton.
I write, I talk about forests; I sew lichens, mosses, seeds, sometimes even leaf skeletons.
I write that I sew, I sew my words onto the drawing, itself sewn onto cotton, lace, paper.
The thread follows the drawing, underlines it or leaves it to be guessed at, the words play with the line; sometimes the text appears in its entirety, at other times, it is a fragment that responds to the fragments of lace, paper and plant matter sewn onto the fabric.
It is a continual exchange, a three-way conversation in which everything resonates and connects, a multifaceted unity.
If I often work with old clothes and antique lace, it is not to remain in the past; I simply want to translate, through my words and my drawings, all these plant and textile fragments, what has endured throughout time; the woman who wore this dress , the child who was dressed in this little shirt, loved as I love, were happy and sad as I am, laughed and cried as we laugh and cry; everything is written in the fabric, as much as the sweat, the tears, the wine or milk stains.
When I sew fragments of Nature, I also want to talk about the future, about the need for us to repair (to sew back together !) our bond with Nature if we want to stay alive and continue to dream, laugh, cry, love.
By bringing these fragments together, I dream of recreating a lost unity.
The plant fragments mingled with snippets of fabrics from the past are a sign that we must restore Nature to the foremost place it should never have left, the only way for us to keep the thread going, to preserve the continuity of human emotions and feelings, and their place in the world.
Oury Haquette
LE BRUIT DE NOS CŒURS
12” x 10”
Textiles with mixed media
$700 Euro + tax
#2026804
Oury Haquette
LA PELOTE
13” x 9.5”
Textiles with mixed media
$700 Euro + tax
#2026803
Seema Shah is a self-taught mixed media collage artist and writer based in Vancouver. Working intuitively, her collages are a reflection of her inner world. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, the US, and the UK. Seema was a recipient of The Beaumont Studios Artist To Watch Award 2022 and shortlisted twice for the Contemporary Collage Magazine Awards.
Artist Statement:
My visual art and writing are rooted in personal narrative and memory. I’m drawn to collage because it lends itself particularly well to the expression of complex and layered narratives. Spontaneous associations and unexpected juxtapositions bring subconscious and embodied “knowing” to the surface, often through the language of metaphor and symbolic imagery.
I have experimented with a variety of 2D & 3D surfaces that bring new possibilities to storytelling. Wooden blocks and matchboxes can show many interrelated sides to a story. Vintage envelopes and book covers add an aesthetic connection to the past. Most recently, I’ve worked with children’s board books, which allow for a narrative to unfold over several pages.
Seema Shah
A Question Best Left Unasked
6.5" x 5" x 0.5"
Mixed media collage on children's board book
$475 + tax
#2026805
Seema Shah
A Long Time Ago
6.5" x 5" x 0.5"
Mixed media collage on children's board book
$475 + tax
#2026806
Seema Shah
These Ups and Downs
2 3/8" x 2.3/8" x 0.5"
Mixed media collage on paper
(accordion book)
$150 + tax / SOLD
#2026807
Robin Smith
I live in a small island community at the end of Vancouver Island. My artwork is influenced by what shows up in my world, things given to me or found- old books, photographs of unknown people, maps, papers and treasures washed in by the tide. As people downsize, or clear out old houses, they will pass things on to me that they can't keep but don't want to throw out. I am becoming the repository for artifacts from the past- things that are not important enough to go to the museum, but still have value and meaning.
I do my best to translate some of it into English, understand the story behind these articles, and bring a tiny bit of that story to life. Sometimes my books stand alone, but what really inspires me is the idea of another story being written alongside the original story.
My books are journals made with the intention of inspiring a new story to emerge. This is a collaborative process. The journals are not complete until they have found a new home in the world and become containers for new experiences to be shared through writing, artwork, doodling, old letters or whatever makes our life meaningful. Write it down, make a mess, make a mark!.
Robin Smith
Workers of the World
13” x 16” x 4”
Mixed media
$1,600 + tax
#2026808
Robin Smith
Rubble
16” x 9” x 4”
Mixed media
$1,000 + tax
#2026809
Hello
I am ARGH!! An arghist cartoonist painter collagist found object readymade diorama maker and toy collector.
Sometimes I am Nick Mitchum. Social media critic commentator curator and sit down comic.
Sometimes I am the drunk mailman. Internet poet and reporter.
Sometimes I am Ken Forster. All of the above.
Born in 1954. I started doodling at a very early age. Inspired and influenced by television in the 1950s and 60s …cartoons…old movies…the news…underground comic books…The Realist…Ernie Bushmiller and the atomic bomb. My argh is a tribute to the art and artists that made the strongest impressions on me in my life.
I show and sell my argh at various comic book and toy and pop memorabilia collectable shows.
I created the D.O.A. Punk Rock Coloring Fun Book in 1985. That earned me my 15 seconds of fame. Mentions in some local newspapers and on television.
My first published comic strip was in the first issue of the Richmond underground newspaper The Daily Daily Day After Day Daily in 1971. The name and headline was inspired by my comic strip.
ARGH!!
To boldly go where no man has gone before
Mixed media collage
12” x 10” x 1.5”
$100 + tax
#2026810
Trisha Leigh Lavoie is self-taught Acadian artist born in Moncton, New Brunswick, who currently
resides in Hamilton. Her work is an intersection of fibre arts and installation, generally using
crocheted art objects as a primary source to recreate environments. Reveling in the whimsical, the absurd and the uncanny, her work elevates the often undervalued craft disciplines considered only to have applications to the domestic realm to an artistic sphere. Her work has been shown at Hamilton Artist Inc, Hundred Dollar Gallery, the Niagara Artist Centre, and the Larry Spring Museum of Common Sense Physics.
The SCUM Manifesto, written by Valerie Solanas in 1967, is a provocative text that critiques patriarchy and outlines Solanas's radical feminist ideology. Central to her argument is the belief that men are biologically incomplete and have, out of a perceived deficiency, created social structures that perpetuate violence and oppression. Solanas asserts that men project their own passivity onto women and that they seek to dominate women's creativity and vitality. The manifesto advocates for the dismantlement of the existing social order, urging the establishment of the Society for Cutting Up Men (SCUM) to take drastic measures, including sabotage and violence, against men who do not support their cause.
​
After its publication, the SCUM Manifesto became a significant yet controversial text within the women's movement. It sparked debates about feminism and radicalism, reflecting the anger and frustration many women felt toward the patriarchal system. Despite its controversial nature, some regarded the work as political satire, akin to Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” Solanas's life and the manifesto gained further attention following her infamous shooting of artist Andy Warhol, which underscored the tensions between her radical ideas and the broader feminist movement. The SCUM Manifesto remains a polarizing yet impactful document, continuing to evoke discussion about gender, power, and societal structures.
Trisha Lavoie
Every time I Read this it Makes More Sense
Wool and foam
7” x 6” x 2”
$300 + tax
#2026813
Chris Zajko is a visual artist and musician born in Warsaw, Poland, currently based out of Calgary.
Gravitating towards various forms of surrealism, his work occupies an intersection between personal history, collective memory and current environment.
Here are some examples of psychic wildlife found on the west coast. Psychic wildlife occurs when the human population density near a tectonic fault line passes a certain threshold.
As a result of excessive psycho-geological tension, the barrier between 'inner' experience and 'outer' reality can become porous and unstable. When this happens, creatures and phenomena normally only encountered in dreams begin to seep out into the natural environment.
Untethered from the individual minds that initially manifested them, these psychic organisms become part of the local ecosystem.
While predominantly visible only to those who are considered mentally ill, psychic wildlife registers in the minds of the general population as a vague but persistent sense of unease that is so characteristic of certain major coastal cities.
Chris Zajko
Witches of the West Coast
8.5” x 12.5” x .5”
Mixed media on paper with leather
$1,200 + tax
#2026814
Chris Zajko
Witches of the West Coast
6" x 9" reproduction
Ltd edition of 30 copies
Signed and numbered by the artist
$30 + tax
#2026815
Alejandra Montemayor (b. Madrid, Spain) is a 49-year-old artist currently based in a small, remote village in Galicia, where she lives surrounded by animals. For nearly two decades, she has balanced her personal creative practice with her professional role as a Stage Lighting professor at the ESADg. Working within the realm of Art Brut, Alejandra approaches drawing and painting as a vital tool for survival. Her powerful, raw artworks are born from an urgent need to mitigate personal trauma and cope with the deep pain of loneliness she experiences as a Level 2 autistic individual in a world not built for her. Through intense visual textures and striking imagery, her work serves as both a sanctuary and a force of resilience, translating her profound internal landscape into an unfiltered artistic statement.
This work was originally a private personal diary written years ago during a time of severe distress. Years later, as a process of survival and healing, I decided to "rewrite" this painful past by drawing directly over the pages. The heavy black marks and textures in the artwork are deliberate cancellations, visually burying the original sentences of my diary. The notebook has been transformed into an intimate container where trauma is overwritten through raw creativity.
Alejandra Montemayor
TOUT SE REMPLACE / Everything Can be Replaced
11.25” x 8.75” x .5”
Mixed media on paper
$600 euro + tax
#2026816
Brett Zü spent his childhood moving around the Fraser Valley’s Bible Belt and Vancouver Island. Despite a home which did not nurture art, Brett’s uncle introduced a doodle game which stimulated their creative eye, imagination, and continues to play a big part in Brett’s projects. Art teachers at high school in Chilliwack were also a huge inspiration. Brett became a working family man for three decades, only deciding to become a full time artist in 2021. He adapted the German spelling of the last name Zü because it looked like a ‘happy face,’ and playfully refers to art installations around the city as ‘Zü art.’
Brett sees creative potential in everything, “Everything that I make is 95% found stuff.” Over the last 2 years his materials have been broken down pallets and found or gifted paints. They also love charcoal, and can often be found with a sketchbook at English Bay or Siwash Rock. While still young, Brett used art to begin their exploration of questions such as: Why am I here? What is my purpose? Will I be remembered?
Brett’s recent experience with homelessness “totally helped evolve the way” he makes art.
Brett Zu
This is About a Kat
9” x 7” x .75”
Mixed media
$175 + tax
#2026817