Matter of Substance is a series of altered book sculptures that interrogates how material and meaning are intertwined. Found volumes—ranging from texts on language, religion, and theory—are soaked in saltwater, allowed to reshape through dissolution, and sealed with abaca pulp and acrylic. What remains is not a legible archive, but a relic-like form: warped, dense, and quiet.

By transforming the book into a site of physical transmutation and aesthetic preservation, Matter of Substance explores what endures when language loses clarity. These works question what constitutes substance—in knowledge, in memory, in material.

These pieces may be displayed individually as discrete objects or arranged in clusters, inviting comparisons between them—like a fragmented archive, or an altar of disarticulated language.