Text by Janet Frame; drypoint, etching, and collagraph by Nelle Martin on Rives and Fabriano papers. Text hand set in Old Style Caslon. Accordion bound in hand painted and printed cover with Twinrocker paper chemise. 6 5/8” x 4 1/2”. Edition of 30. 2006. $750.

The artist buried herself in the mystical and tactile world of Janet Frame and created an elaborated journey around a passage found on page 26 of the novel, Scented Gardens for the Blind. Martin says: “Frame’s writing is dense with poetry and visual images that set the stage for a theatrical state of darkened mind. The objects in my still lifes became characters on the stage, the fragmented shapes as essences pulled from the characters in her writing.”

Set in an intimate scale, the prints invite the reader/viewer to respond with a heightened tactile awareness. The collagraph takes different textures from life to give emphasis on a particular “body part.” The drypoints allow direct travel on the contours and edges. The etching explores the play of light on the forms themselves.