Alchemical Bindings
My passion for alchemy was born during my years in university when I studied conservation and restoration. The science of the pigments, the ancient techniques, the laboratory research, everything awoke my curiosity. My chemistry teacher was my mentor and during the years I worked besides him on mural conservation sites, he taught me recipes and inspired me to build a collection of rare pigments that I use in my illuminated manuscripts and bindings.
For me, alchemy represents more than a mystical tradition; it is a visual language of transformation, unity, and cosmic harmony. A bridge between earth and sky, where the human being exists, as a whole universe for inner exploration. That's what I try to transpose in my bindings.
The Alchemy of Love (2025)
Tooled and hand painted on natural leather with my original artwork, this binding was designed as an alchemical map of transformation, where the power of love acts as fundamental elemental force. Love, just like liquid gold in alchemy, is the magical substance flowing through our veins, crossing our internal anatomy forming meridians of the soul, in thin threads that interconnect the chambers of our heart. When we allow it to move through us without resistance, we achieve a state of emotional alchemy, finding unconditional love, balance and equilibrium within ourselves. By surrendering to its flow, by accepting its burning passion without fearing the heartbreak, we will find that we are already whole. This binding is a tribute to the beauty of being human and embracing life with its highs and its lows. Ultimately, it is about understanding that love is an internal force and it is independent of external factors.
At the center of the design appears the anatomical heart, rendered not as a romantic emblem but as a living engine, the seat of will, emotion, and vital force. Encircled by a ring marked with zodiacal and temporal symbols, the heart becomes both compass and clock, suggesting that true time is not measured externally, but through inner change. The surrounding sun and moon elements evoke the alchemical union of opposites: conscious and unconscious, masculine and feminine, action and receptivity.
Below, the heart descends into a vessel of fire, recalling the alchemical athanor. This flame is not destructive but transformative. It is the necessary heat through which matter, memory, and identity are refined. It represents the requirements for genuine change: patience, resilience, endurance, continuity.
On the left cover a tree-like structure forms branching paths, connecting anatomical fragments, parts of our heart that may get scattered but yet are always connected.
On the spine, the serpent, an ancient symbol of renewal and hidden knowledge, allows the viewer to ask themselves a question, and make their own decision about the path they chose in life. What stories will they tell?
Kircher's Alchemic Under World (2025)
These two bindings were inspired by the illustration from Mundus Subterraneus, a scientific textbook from 1665 by Athanasius Kircher (The subterranean world, all its riches). The work depicts the imaginary geography of Earth. These cross section of the Earth, originally black and white - in my vision in vivid bold colors - show the underground water and fire systems. The Aquatic System binding shows the planet with a fiery explosion of fire at its center, surrounded by water springs, ocean currents and pathways. The binding on the Earth's internal fires, shows a network of tunnels expanding from its center and erupting on the outside through volcanos that release fire and smoke into the atmosphere. The Earth is set within a cosmic landscape with flying comets, planets, nebulae, a complete alchemical fusion of fire, water, air, and perhaps spirit.
Memento Mori (2024)
This binding is a reflection on the inevitability of our fate, as gentle reminders to practice acceptance of death and gratitude for life. The right hand side of this journal depicts the story of life, while the left hand side, that of dead and universal transcendence. The impermanence of beauty and youth are represented by the girl holding a rose that loses its petals, and the tree full of leaves that are falling with the passage of time. On the other side there is an angel holding an hourglass, as our life is a journey with a fixed destination. Skeletons are performing a dance macabre holding hands with the rich, the poor, the young, the old, as nobody can escape their fate. The corners depict symbols such as the sun and the moon - life and death, day and night, the ouroboros - the cycle of life. The understanding of death is a prerequisite for the understanding of life. The left tree has deep roots, as it has grown strong since the beginning of time while the right tree has a beautiful crown showing the richness and the fullness of our short but meaningful life. The colorful diamond pattern behind the girl shows the embrace of our fate and that life has meaning not in spite of, but because of death.
The Old Zodiac (2024)
The theme of this binding was inspired by an alchemic treaty from 1652, Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum with incredibly beautiful illustrations. The spreads of both covers contain detailed floral frames around the edges and intriguing details such as insects and animals. The central panels depict zodiac signs, on the right hand side with their figurative representations and on the left hand side with their astrologic correspondents and constellations. Other interesting figures can be found such as the sun and the moon on the front cover, lions asleep perhaps guarding the entrance to an ancient temple, the divine dove and Eve on the back cover.
The Force Within You (2024)
This old looking journal is made of a worn piece of leather with marks and scars that show its age and wear through time. I decorated the cover with respect to the character of this piece. It depicts an ancient dragon on the front panel and a sword on the back. By associating these two symbols I meant to refer to the inner self, to the force that lays within us and which we must discover and awake. It takes belief and determination to look into the silent depths of our being and bring out the force that resides within our heart and our mind.
The Herbarium (2023)
A one of a kind binding dedicated to plants. Life lately has brought me in close contact with nature and the universe of herbs and flowers has been fascinating me. I wanted this book to resemble a collection of old plant specimens from which bits and pieces were preserved and enclosed into this cabinet like a book cover worn by time.
The Passage (2021)
Designed as an art object to resemble an antique object from medieval times, this binding evokes a passage gate, a magic box, a well kept secret. Decorated in latticework that gives it a precious ancient aspect, the fine details were obtained by interlacing copper strips and placing brads at the intersections.
The Alchemy of Life (2020)
The central theme of is alchemy, with two of its most representative symbols depicted on the front and back cover. For the alchemist, the sun was associated with the Gold and represented the perfection of all matter on any level, including that of the mind, spirit, and soul. The crescent moon was a common alchemy symbol for Silver. The moon symbol represents fertility, resurrection, occult power, immortality and intuition. It is a feminine property and alchemists would incorporate it with the sun (gold) to assure balance.
The Magic Serpent (2020)
What the Hands Remember (2019)
Hand-painted and carved into leather, these mirrored palms are evoking the ancient art of palmistry. The hands are depicted as maps of destiny, memory, and will, one emerges from storm and fire, surrounded by lightning, stars, and falling rain, the other rests in calmer waters beneath the sun, marked with symbols of love, sovereignty, and inner vision, but also the inevitable death. Meanings there present but without being labeled, as in my opinion the choice is ours and we always make our own destiny. Symbols of life instances are present but are not connected to the lines of life as they are not dictated by them. They simply exist and we have the freedom to choose them or not. Whether we are surrounded by rain, by thunder and storm, whether there is dark or light in our lives, we can always choose the way we look at things and make the universe work with us, in our favor. There are many ways to live one's life and all ways are good as long as they're is in accordance to our true self.