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Photo courtesy of Larry Clifford. On November 29, 2025, artist Larry Clifford takes a break from installing his BiblioQuilts display on the walls of Westwood Public Library.
12-01-2025 12:20am
Salvaged Books Become Colorful Quilt-Inspired Art in Westwood Public Library Exhibit
Darlene Cancell
Editor
After 15 years of producing biomedical illustrations, Larry Clifford has returned to his roots in fine art with a display of his "BiblioQuilts" at the Westwood Public Library - a befitting setting given that the art is made with damaged or distressed books that he has salvaged.
Photo courtesy of Larry Clifford. This work titled, "Lexigons," is an apparent play on the words "lexicon" meaning vocabulary and "hexagon" meaning six-sided polygon. In this piece, polygon-shaped tiles shaped from old books display printed words and are arranged in the design of a quilt.Each piece of Mr. Clifford's art has the colorful, patchwork appearance of a quilt made of cloth, but is actually a combination of hundreds to thousands of "tiles" that the artist takes from old, hardcover books - their covers, pages, and spines. Many of these books would have ended up decaying in a landfill. Instead, with the addition of dyes, inks, and acrylics, Mr. Clifford gives the neglected books new life as something aesthetically pleasing to study.
Photo courtesy of Larry Clifford. Larry Clifford's mixed media of old books, dyes, inks and acrylics creates quilted patterns. This work, "Open Books," features 16 open books, with spines uplifted.BiblioQuilts combines Mr. Clifford's lifelong passions for visual art and literature. Following his showing at Weston Public Library, the art is on display at Westwood's main library from now through January 2nd.
Thanks to Larry Clifford and Westwood Public Library for sharing this news with Westwood Minute.
