TECHNIQUE
Bound in hand dyed fair calf. Bradel influenced structure. Foil tooled. Graphite and pigment edges. Multi-coloured hand sewn French double silk end bands. Leather joints. Suede fly leaves. Hand dyed calf doublures with a single feather motif blocked in clear foil, front and back.
The book is housed in a two-tray drop back box with suede pad linings.
DESIGN
Chinonso Solomon Olisa is a simple chicken farmer and the protagonist of this story. The story is narrated by Chinonso’s chi, his spiritual guardian and it is told in the form of three incantations. At the beginning of each incantation, Chinonso’s chi pleads to the Old Fathers of Bechukwu; the Heavenly Place, to spare his host’s soul, for he knows not what he has done.
There is a sense of foreboding from the very beginning of this tale – I wanted to capture the essence of that through colour, movement and stillness. I also wanted to include small details from within the text to decorate the piece.
The metallic blue, vertical bands represent Chinonso’s chi and the three incantations. Each of the bands has been decorated with hologram chicken feathers. The eleven arrows are a nod to the eleven processes of reincarnation. The black vertical bands on the front board are for the four years Chinonso spent in prison and the feather that has been blocked onto the calf doublures is a gosling feather – which can been seen on the suede fly leaves like a ghost.
