The past week or so has been full of challenging questions for me in terms of figuring out what the next stage of my exploration will be, and how it will take form. I had a great talk with a longtime friend/mentor of mine who has a PhD in communications and is an expert wordsmith, picking his brain about the concept and the content of my work. He gave some really helpful feedback and I will be meeting with him again tomorrow, when he will be able to see the work in person and provide his perspective/knowledge regarding some of the theoretical issues with which I've been wrestling. On Karen's recommendation, I've also spent some time investigating alternative materials and "construction" methods, looking at work by other artists, pondering questions she asked me, and thinking about formal issues. I have received a lot of very helpful - and at times conflicting - feedback on the work I have made so far (images that I've posted here and on Facebook), and I have spent a lot of time looking at and handling those pieces. When I have had available time, I have continued to print and to keep reading, writing, sketching, and thinking... and I had another long/good/challenging/inspiring talk with Karen today about the direction my work will take next. While I am thoroughly enjoying the journey (and all of the explorations along the way to my destination), it sure would be much easier if I had a map...
This (not-so-great) image is of the larger piece (approx. 18"x20") I made to explore scale, variety of mark, and more physically substantial materials. The support is made from 3 layers of 3/16" foamcore (which I'd replace with 1/2" or 3/4" plywood or MDF if I decide to make more at this scale or larger) , to which I pasted the larger print of the background; the print wraps around the edges of the support kind of like a stretched canvas. The relief elements are made of PVC with printed paper cutouts adhered to them. Although I really like the PVC for many of its qualities, I had some technical challenges finding a way to mount the relief elements to the board - hence the mishap of two pieces falling off in transit. 
The second and third images are sample structures that I threw together rather quickly in consideration of making some or all of this work in book form. The top one is a codex about 3"x"4"x1" and the bottom one is a simple accordian book about 2.5"x3"x3/4" (when closed). Neither of these structures has "words" in it yet, but my intention would be to use reliefs, cutouts, and/or other 3-dimensional elements such as flaps, pop-ups, etc. in the various books. I am thinking about exploring book forms for the freedom and sense of play that they would allow me, as well as for the intimacy and active engagement that they would offer for the reader (oh, and also for the obvious references). I am concerned, however, with the level of detail that would be required to work at such a small scale. 