A lust for life and binding
- Kim is a specialised book restorer and binder
- She creates unique and custom-made pieces
- Her favourite materials are high quality leather, paper and cork
Dutch by birth, Kim Terhorst moved to Italy as a child. After attending a Waldorf school and studying foreign languages in high school, she discovered a passion for cultural heritage, and in particular for book restoration. To this day, she has a great passion for bookbinding and the creation of objects in leather, paper and cork. Kim graduated in Viterbo and specialised in Spoleto, and in 2012 she opened her artisan workshop Volta la Carta in Gubbio. This is where she creates albums, books, diaries, boxes, bags, cases, key rings, and wallets, using high quality materials, such as vegetable tanned leather, handmade paper, and makes marbled paper herself.
Interview
- Why did you choose this craft?
- I think it was written in my DNA. After studying foreign languages at high school, I felt attracted to cultural heritage conservation. My father is a Dutch artist, painter and illustrator and until I was 7 years old, I grew up in his atelier. Choosing bookbinding was as if something I was no longer aware of had resurfaced in me.
- What do you love most about your work?
- I like to get involved, experiment, imagine new things for the people of Gubbio and the tourists, create unique pieces. The positive feedback from my customers is very energising. People want to amaze with a unique gift and ask me to create a personalised object. I love coming to work every day with joy, which is poured into my pieces.
- What inspires your creativity?
- Dialogue with customers is very important to me. Every meeting with a client can be a starting point for creating a new line. Even from an accident, or mistake, new ideas and creative paths are born. I feel very connected to the cycle of the seasons with their colours. I let myself be carried away by sensations.
- What makes your pieces particularly recognisable?
- I would certainly say my binding style and my use of colours, of marbled papers made by me, not printed. While valuing tradition, I try to bring a more lively and colourful aesthetic. My shop must not intimidate, it must attract kids and people of all ages.
Kim Terhorst is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2005 and she started teaching in 2019
Works
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Kim Terhorst
