Artist Books
Fruiting Bodies (fungi)
Fruiting Bodies (fungi) is a collection of 7 mezzotint engravings of mushrooms (morel, chanterelle, Amanita muscaria, wood ear, turkey tail, bird’s nest and porcini), enhanced by the addition of fungi-related poems by 9 prominent poets (Forest Gander, Jane Hirshfield, Anna Journey, Christine Boyka Kluge, Ted Kooser, W.S. Merwin, Gary Snyder, Joseph Stroud and Gary Young). It is bound in an accordion and housed in a cloth-bound, magnet drop spine box that measures approximately 10 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 2”.
Vanishing
Vanishing, is the beautiful collaboration between Holly and book artist Rhiannon Alpers, with letterpress poems by Jane Hirshfield. Housed in a cloth-bound box, 11 hand-colored 3” x 3” mezzotints of some of the most beautiful endangered insects, Vanishing both celebrates these particular insects and mourns species loss and the “insect apocalypse” scientists are predicting, caused by habitat loss, invasive species, pesticides and climate warming. The book measures 8 1/2” x 7 5/8” x 1 3/4” and contains a gray hand made cotton rag paper created by Rhiannon for this drop spine box with cover window.
A Kerosene Beauty
A Kerosene Beauty, published by David Pascoe of Nawakum Press, is a stunning artist's book inspired by nature and an acute awareness of its fragility. Beneath its slate stone leaf cover, it holds twelve searing poems by the poet Jane Hirshfield, lamenting the potential apocalypse that Global Climate Change represents, and seven hauntingly beautiful mezzotints by Holly, each inspired by the words of one of the poems. The text was printed in cast lead type by Pat Reagh in Sebastopol, California and the book bound by Lisa Van Pelt of Philo, California. With 48 pages comprised of half dozen elegant papers, the book measures 15" x 9" and is housed in a Japanese wooden book and drawstring bag.
(Click for photo sequence)
Listen to Jane Hirshfield reading one of her poems, my favorite...
Peruvian Portals
Peruvian Portals, a collaboration with poet David St. John, is a collection of seven mezzotint engravings by Holly inspired by experiences in the Peruvian Andes, and six poems by David, influenced by the indigenous Quechua folksongs of the area and written for the images. One of the poems “Doorway Song”, was translated into the Ecuadorian version of Quechua, Kichwa by Margot Cifuentes. The text was handset and printed by Eric Johnson of Iota Press, Sebastopol. The unbound collection is housed in a linen clamshell box, and is available in a small edition, including a deluxe edition of 3, each with a drawing of one of the mezzotints.
Listen to an audio recording of David St. John's poem Doorway Song, in English by David and in Kichwa by Margot Cifuentes.
It's All Connected: Threatened, Endangered, Disappearing
It's All Connected: Threatened, Endangered, Disappearing is an accordion artist's book composed of seven 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" mezzotint engravings and some drypoint, on Rives BFK. The images are of endangered environmental habitats - honeycomb, coral, water, rainforest, sand dunes, wetlands, and ice floes. Letterpress titles at front and back are by Iota Press of Sebastopol, California in Centaur types. Folded 6 1/2" x 6 1/2"; open 6 1/2" x approx. 32".
Arch
Arch is a collaboration with Jack Stauffacher, letterpress printer and proprietor of The Greenwood Press, San Francisco. It includes five mezzotint engravings by Holly of Italian vernacular architecture from Montecastello di Vibio and Perugia, Italy, printed on Rives BFK. The text is hand set in Méridien types and is an excerpt from Paul Valéry’s Dialogues, Eupalinos, or the Architect. Hand binding with Japanese bookcloths is by Foolcap Press of Santa Cruz. Support thanks to the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Chicago.
