Carol Dalton poses with two of her pieces– old book spines on wooden boards– for her new Benicia Public Library exhibit “The Physicality of Books.” The show will be on display through Sept. 13. (Photo by Nick Sestanovich)

Typically, the main room of the Benicia Public Library is where one will find books and the Marilyn Citron O’Rourke Gallery is where one will find art. Mixed media artist Carol Dalton appears to have asked the question “Why not both?” and thus, the room is where visitors can find various book parts repurposed as art. Dalton’s exhibition “The Physicality of Books” is now on display in the O’Rourke Gallery.

Dalton has considered art to be her favorite subject since elementary school.

“I like the fact that I can get totally lost in it,” she said. “I lose my self-consciousness when I’m making art.”

Dalton has made a name for herself in mixed media, collage and printmaking. She has a studio in Benicia, and joined the Arsenal’s Jen Tough Gallery in the spring.

In 2017, Dalton’s friend and fellow artist Mark Eanes gave her a box of old book spines with the instructions, “Take whatever you want, and return the rest when you are done.” The spines consisted of everything from literary classics by Ernest Hemingway and Charles Dickens to old textbooks to novels by Winston Churchill— the American writer, not the British prime minister.

Dalton used the spines to assemble two 36” X 36” panels. After being concerned that she was taking more than necessary, Dalton emailed Eanes to ask how many spines she should keep.

“Mark was very generous, so I had a substantial supply,” she wrote in her artist statement.

This inspired Dalton to do a whole series on works related to books, with “The Physicality of Books” being the first part.

“I’m enjoying the process, and the materials are very interesting and seductive,” she said. “I don’t see an end in sight for this series right now.”

When visitors walk into the gallery, they will see two-dimensional book spines pressed against wooden boards. Dalton said she began each piece with collaged and pigmented paintings on boards, and then scored, scraped, abated and marked, creating rough surface textures. She then added washes of pigment to distill the surfaces and infuse them for balance.

Dalton’s favorite piece is one titled “Arithmetic,” which is also the last she worked on for this exhibit.

“I glued a third-grade arithmetic book on the background and painted on the surface, so it mostly has the old book pages and it has some book spines,” she said. “It’s really a mixed media piece.”

Dalton said the exhibit is partially a commentary on the decline of physical books in favor of electronic reading devices. She has always enjoyed books, especially the materials used to make them.

“I hope viewers will feel the way I do about a love of books, a love of reading and a love of the whole process of holding a book, turning the pages, enjoying the book covers, the type of paper, the typeface, just the whole experience of the physical presence of the books,” she said. “I’m hoping people get that when they see the show.”

“The Physicality of Books” will be on display through Thursday, Sept. 13 at the library’s Marilyn O’Rourke Gallery, located at 150 East L St. A reception with light refreshments will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18. On the last night of the show, a poetry reading will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. titled “ex*cur*sus” and will feature local poets reading poems about books. The evening will be curated by Poet Laureate Tom Stanton and feature past Poets laureate Johanna Ely and Ronna Leon. For more information, contact the library at 746-4343.

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