Jody Arthur ~ Hawaii

Things We Carried into Space
By Jody Arthur
Wailuku, Hawaii: Jody Arthur, 2021. Edition of 15.

Height 9.75, width 8.5, thickness .50 inches.. Pressure printed images. Gil Sans type letterpressed with polymer plates. Printed on a Vandercook Universal III at the In Cahoots Residency. Bound with drum binding structure in a handmade slipcase. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Arthur has been inspired by outer space and the NASA space program creating a number of projects. Out of this interest came “Things we Carried into Space.”

Jody Arthur: "’Things We Carried Into Space’ is an artist's book that meditates on what we carry with us into the galaxy. The images, based on x-rays of spacesuits, represent the physical apparatus we need to survive, and the text touches on what we carry inside those suits: our hopes, our prayers, our memories, our songs, and our names.”

Greetings from the inhabitants of this world. Greetings to
our friends in the stars. Greetings to you, whoever you are.
Hello! How’s everyone? Are you peaceful? We wish you all
the best, from our planet. We all very much wish to meet
you. If you’re free please come and visit. The people of
Earth send their good wishes, and hope you find good
fortunes in this life. Please contact. May all be well. Please
contact. May time bring us together. Please contact.

$600

Don't use Your Hands
By Jody Arthur
Wailuku, Hawaii: Jody Arthur, 2019. Edition of 10.

Height 6, x width 6, x thickness .75 inches. Board book structure. Printed at the In Cahoots Residency, using the residency's wood type collection, with pochoir illustrations on Rives BFK and matboard. Made in the style of a children's board book, "Don't Use Your Hands" is a response to the mechanization and commodification of craftwork.

Jody Arthur: “When I tell people I'm a book artist, they often ask, ‘why do you make books by hand? Don't they have machines for that?’ It can be a struggle to articulate the appeal of making things by hand in a world where books are bound by machines, we all write emails instead of letters, and so many things that were once made by craftsmen are now mechanized and computerized. Why spend all that effort and time?

“’Don't Use Your Hands’ grapples with these questions, in the guise of a children's board book. Board books are mass-produced, disposable books made for babies to chew on. ‘Don't Use Your Hands’ mimics the didactic style and simple design of a children's book, while at the same time being a limited edition artist's book, made by hand. The type was printed using a vintage wood type collection (and as a result, the t
ype contains flaws and character in keeping with the theme of the book).” $175

Keana
By Jody Arthur
Essay by Laurel Nakanishi
Wailuku, Hawaii: Jody Arthur, 2019. Edition of 10.

Height 3.75 in, width 5.5, depth 4.25 inches. Handmade box with three drawers covered in bookcloth. Three woodblock prints. One linocut on handmade paper. A letterpressed accordion booklet on Rives BFK. Type letterpressed with polymer plates. Printed on a Vandercook Universal III at the In Cahoots Residency. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Jody Arthur: "The tiny Synemporion keana was a species of native Hawaiian bat that went extinct after humans settled the islands. Very little is known about keana. This artist's book evokes an antique specimen case, with three interior drawers, containing woodblock prints of bones discovered by archaeologists, a letterpress booklet containing a lyrical essay written by Hawaii-based poet Laurel Nakanishi, and a ghostly bat silhouette printed with a linocut of the native Hawaiian forest on handmade paper. “

Laurel Nakanishi, Bio: "Laurel Nakanishi was raised in Kapalama, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. She is the author of the award-winning poetry book, Ashore and the chapbook, ‘Manoa|Makai’. She has been fortunate to receive grants from the Fulbright Foundation, the Japan-US Friendship Commission/ National Endowment for the Arts, the US embassy in Nicaragua, and the Greta Wrolstad Foundation. … She received her MFA in poetry from the University of Montana and her MFA in creative non-fiction from Florida International University.

“Laurel has taught poetry writing to children in Hawaii, Nicaragua, Montana, and Miami. In 2012, she founded a community arts organization in Nicaragua, NicaArts, which she continues to direct. Focusing on the intersections between teaching, writing, and community organizing, Laurel collaborates with non-profits and schools in her home state of Hawaii to bring creative writing opportunities to underserved children and young adults."
$400

A Field Guide to Irregular Birds
By Jody Arthur and Katy Dwyer
Oakland, California: Eucalyptus Press, 2009. Second edition of 20.

6.25 x 8.75; 28 unnumbered pages. Type handset in Bembo and letterpress printed on Rives heavyweight cream paper. Illustrations are collages using clip art of old etchings of birds, hand-colored by pochoir. Case binding with marble paper cover.

A collection of absurd imaginary birds in the style of a Victorian field guide.

Jody Arthur: "This book grew out of a fascination with the way that European explorers and naturalists described and catalogued the natural world. When I started working on this book, I was reading the journals of ornithologist John James Audubon and studying nineteenth century bird and animal prints. I began making collages using clip art of old etchings of birds. I felt like a mad scientist, creating bizarre creatures by pasting ears or fins on illustration so sparrows and sandpipers.

"I decided to collect these birds in a faux Victorian field guide. I contacted a friend of mine, Katy Dwyer, who is a vet tech and can tell great stories about animals. Together we made up English and Latin names for the birds, as well as a brief description to go in the guidebook. We strove to mimic the formal yet catty tone that tone might find in an old informational book. The introduction, with its delusions of grandeur, set the scene for the absurd birds to follow. We imagined a pair of disgruntled naturalists, whose discoveries were never celebrated in the manner of Audubon. Were these naturalists (and their unusual discoveries) forgotten because of the politics of the bird watching world, or because they were women in a male profession? Or are they simply liars who created these animals without ever leaving their sitting rooms?

"The structure of the book is meant to emulate the style of a book made in a Victorian job shop, with the type and ornaments available at the time. It took me a while to find the printing process that best evoked Nineteenth century illustrations. I finally ended up using polymer plates and pochoir to capture the look. The finishing touches on the illusion were a simple, formal binding, a marble paper cover, and a gold-stamped title on the spine."

The Pardiso Whisperer (Ocreatus
bracypes) lues its mate near with flashy
tail displays, stimulated by juicy gossip it
senses with its superior hearing.

(SOLD)