Swiftly & Surely: A Book For Hilma (2019)

When I first saw the art of Hilma af Klint, I was astonished — and not only by her paintings. She channeled spirits! She describes the painting of her major cycle of abstract works, The Paintings for the Temple, with these words: “The pictures were painted directly through me, without any preliminary drawings and with great force. I had no idea what the paintings were supposed to depict; nevertheless, I worked swiftly and surely, without changing a single brushstroke.” In making my book, I channeled Hilma af Klint, right down to the automatic writing.

A double-sided accordion-fold book, drawn and painted with gouache through stencils on Fabriano Roma paper; title and title page letterpress printed by Barbara Henry; pages on reverse side of book printed from polymer plates made from my hand-written text.

Covers: painted with gouache on handmade Cave Paper.

Box: cloth-covered clamshell box, with inset label and painted liners.

Edition: 3, one of which is in the Bibliothèque nordique of the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris.
An image of this book was used by the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève for its 2021 new year’s greeting.

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photo credits: Amelia Panico