Palimpsest Scroll is a collaborative artist book by Christine Cheung and Bridie Amelia Schmidt, made from 25 individually rolled pieces of paper bound together with hemp cord.
A palimpsest is a surface that has been written on, erased and used again, conveying layers of meaning while still carrying traces of what came before. This idea runs through the work, which brings together Japanese calligraphy, musical notation, Celtic poetry, dried flowers and pattern-making.
Some of these languages can be read, while others are understood through rhythm, gesture, texture, repetition and memory. Their meanings overlap and shift across the scrolls, reflecting the way language and culture are carried through time, interpreted by different people and changed in the process.
Each scroll holds its own marks and history, but when gathered together the 25 pieces become a shared object. Bound rather than hidden, their different voices sit alongside one another, forming a layered archive in which nothing is completely erased and traces of the past remain present.
Above left: Palimpsest Scroll, Paper and Hemp Cord, by Christine Cheung and Bridie Amelia Schmidt, 2026; Top right and bottom right: Stories from the Forest: Matches not Included, Mixed Media on Paper with Jute Cord, by Bridie Amelia Schmidt, 2026. Below: Stories from the Forest: And She Never Came Back, Print and Collage on Paper with Fern Leaves, by Bridie Amelia Schmidt, 2026
