MELISSA JAY CRAIG discovered book arts almost by accident while pursuing an MFA at the The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The physical form and the creative processes fascinated her; yet it was the communicative and expressive potential of "books" that excited her most. Craig's current work, organic sculptural book- objects, is difficult to categorize. For some, they are book art; to others they are sculpture. One curator even described them as "fetishistic objects." But, to the artist, they are just her ART. "I am not exclusively a sculptor, a bookbinder, a paper maker, a printmaker, an installation or assemblage artist, yet I do all those things without a set hierarchy." In this interdisciplinary realm, Craig found she was free to let her ideas materialize without imposed limits, and in time, discovered that she was thoroughly seduced by paper.

After learning she was losing her hearing, Melissa began to experiment with kozo, a paper making fiber, and discovered that this quiet plant fiber spoke loudly on its own, taking the place of the words often seen in her early work, noted arts writer Jen Thomas in an article for Bonefolder. Craig's deteriorating hearing also piqued her interest in decaying plants, pods, and fungi as she reflected on entropy in nature.

(S)Edition, a series of mushrooms whose graceful, fluttering pages suggest the fragility of nature within the context of book form, is the result of her exploration of the myriad forms and colors of fungi. The completed edition of 99 copies was exhibited in 2010, at the Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory in Cleveland. The edition number hints at the artist's rejection of formal parameters. Clive Philpott, once in charge of book acquisitions at MOMA, remarked that artists' books were not artists' books unless they were part of an edition of 100. His opinions are still embraced in academic environs.