Baba Yaga

Etchings with gouache hand-coloring.
Size: 11.375 x 8” (11.375 x 16” spread). 2023
Edition of 40.
Price: regular $3500; deluxe SOLD OUT.

This artist’s book is of the story ‘Baba Yaga’, the Slavic folkloric witch who lives in a house on chicken legs and flies around in a mortar driven by a pestle. I am melding the imaginary world of one of my favorite childhood stories with my botanical occupation. Plants weave through the etchings, guiding the story with their meanings- invasive, prickly and toxic plants begin the story with discord.

This retelling was based on the folktale originally recorded by Aleksandr Afanas’ev and translated by W.R.S. Ralston. Sarah Horowitz illustrated the story with hand colored etchings. The text is set in Maiola, inspired by early Czech typography and designed by Veronika Burian of TypeTogether. Graphic designer Joshua Berger (Plazm) contributed to and edited the typography and layout. Arthur Larson of Horton Tank Graphics printed the text on Zerkall paper with polymer plates made by Boxcar Press. The book was bound and boxed by Carolina Veenstra with assistance by David Myhre and Sarah Horowitz.