"A Book for You": An Art Book That Won’t Come Back

Masha Varazi is a multimedia artist and illustrator living and working in Tbilisi. Her artistic practice blends personal identity exploration with imaginary worlds and characters, and her wide use of materials gives her work a timeless quality.

We’re publishing her artist’s book "A Book for You"—a unique object that brings together embroidery, hand-printing, illustration, and text. It’s the kind of piece that could easily belong in a contemporary art museum, but… the story behind it tells otherwise.

"I made this book two years ago as a gift for my then-partner. We weren’t together for long, and now the book is the only proof that the relationship ever happened. It contains fragments of his writing, little symbols of our shared life, and my tangled thoughts. It’s one of my most personal projects. The base is primed calico fabric. I printed images using an etching press, and created the plates in drypoint technique—each letter and drawing was scratched in by hand with a fine needle. Some texts were printed on etching paper and then sewn onto the fabric. It was my first time working with these techniques, and I was guided through the process by my friend and fellow artist, Serafima Bresler."

"Now the book is in my former partner’s possession, and I’ve often regretted not keeping it for myself. It turned out to be a beautiful little object, one that feels good in your hands, full of effort and emotion. But in a way, that’s symbolic too—and the experience gave me a new technique that has since become part of my practice."