Working the Remanent: An Artist Talk with Alisa Banks

Presented by BIMA in partnership with

In this intimate, moderated conversation, internationally recognized book artist, Alisa Banks, will discuss how her artist’s books and fiber-based works emerge from examining memory, cultural tradition, and archive. To help imagine new, unconventional ways to read, pieces will be highlighted that demonstrate her novel structural elements–like sculptural bindings, textile collages, and incorporation of hair, cloth, plant matter, and soil.

BIMA's curator of the Cynthia Sears Artists' Books Collection, Erin Zona, will moderate the discussion. It will be followed by an audience Q&A and reception in the galleries.

Guest name:

Alisa Banks

Guest bio:

Alisa Banks (Dallas, TX) (she/her) is a visual artist who challenges and investigates unconventional modes of reading. Banks, located in Dallas, Texas, examines connections between contemporary culture, her Louisiana Creole heritage, and the African diaspora. Banks insists that stories are not confined to written language. Instead, they can be held in materials, gestures, rituals, and the tactile knowledge passed from hand to hand across generations.

Banks’ works have been exhibited nationally and internationally, and are housed in several private and public collections, including the Smithsonian Institution, the US Library of Congress, The Schomburg Center, The British Library, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the Cynthia Sears Collection of the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. Alisa holds a B.S. degree in Medical Laboratory Science from Oklahoma State University and a M.F.A. degree in Visual Art from Texas Woman’s University.

Guest website/social:

www.alisabanks.com

@abanksart

About the BIMA–BARN Partnership

Together, BIMA and BARN are partnering to bring audiences and makers closer to contemporary book arts through both public dialogue (at BIMA) and hands-on creative exploration (at BARN).

Banks’s BIMA talk complements her extended visit to Bainbridge Island as a featured instructor for BARN's Handwork Week 2026.

At BARN, Banks will be leading a week-long workshop, “Speak Your Piece: Artist’s Books with Meaning” (April 27–May 1, 2026). In it, she will guide participants in transforming personal stories into sculptural books through bookbinding, printmaking, material exploration, and narrative development.

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Host or Publisher Bainbridge Island Museum of Art