What stories grow at her feet? – an Artist Book
An artist book inspired by a giant Blue Quandong
The first time I saw her, I was walking along a track high on the hillside, looking down into the forest. I was still beneath her canopy, and there she was. An enormous blue quandong tree (Elaeocarpus grandis).
Her trunk was huge. Thick horizontal branches stretched out from her centre, with thick branches rising vertically from them, reaching high into the canopy. I had seen plenty of blue quandongs before, but nothing quite like this one.
I was in awe of her size.
I returned to her many times over the following months. Each visit revealed a little more. More branches, more foliage, more flowers, more fruit. The density of her canopy, the structure of her limbs, the small details that are so easily missed.
It wasn’t that I began to see her differently. I was simply seeing more of her.
As I became familiar with the tracks winding through the property, I began to understand where she stood in relation to the rest of the forest. I realised I’d walked past her several times without recognising her from another direction.
And then, from this new perspective, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before.
Growing below her were three substantial young blue quandong trees. Her children, standing side by side at her feet. And the more I looked, the more young trees I saw.
That changed something for me.
I began thinking about how long she had been there, what changes she might have witnessed and the generations of trees growing around her. I like to imagine her standing there forever, looking out towards the Glass House Mountains. In reality, she may well have grown from seed after the land was logged and cleared in the late 1800s.
Either way, her presence speaks to me of resilience, continuity and the extraordinary capacity of a forest to return.
Making the book
What stories grow at her feet? began as a poem written in response to this remarkable tree. I wanted to make an artist book that brought together the words, my photographs and some of the details I had observed but hadn’t captured through the camera.
I chose to make the book from seven unbound sheets, alternating three verses of poetry with three photographs, beginning with a title page.
I like the way an unbound book asks the reader to interact with it. The pages can be lifted, moved, held up to the light or laid alongside one another. There is no fixed spine holding everything together.
Each verse has its own page, allowing space to read and consider the words before moving to the next image.
The poetry pages are letterpress printed and blind embossed. The embossings are subtle, deliberately so. They include details that connect with the photographs on the following pages. Branches from the great blue quandong extend across the first two poetry pages, visually connecting with the photograph that sits between them.
Some of these connections may not be immediately apparent. I hope readers will take the time to look closely, perhaps moving the papers to catch the light or placing pages side by side to see how the imagery relates.
Rather than using page numbers, I’ve included the profiles of three Glass House Mountains on the poetry pages: Tibrogargan, Coonowrin and Beerwah. The profile that reveals itself in the view when looking out over the canopy of the tree. These provide a quiet sequence through the book, while acknowledging the landscape beyond the tree.
The three photographs are of the same blue quandong. I’ve printed them as blue-black duotones, with the blue referencing both the tree’s name and its remarkable sapphire-blue fruit. In the canopy photograph, I’ve picked out several leaves in red, acknowledging the brilliant crimson colour that appears among the green foliage.
The photographic pages have been impregnated with beeswax, making them translucent. As a page is lifted, the words on the sheet beneath begin to appear through the photograph. I like that the reader can sense another layer of the story before turning the page.
The book is held in a bright red enclosure, echoing the crimson leaves of the blue quandong. I’ve blind embossed the tree’s canopy onto its surface, another detail that becomes visible as the light moves across the paper.
Stories growing
The final photograph shows the three younger blue quandongs growing below the great tree.
For me, this is where the poem and the book come together.
There is the wonder of the tree herself, her enormous physical presence, her flowers, fruit, branches and roots. But there is also the life continuing around her.
I think about the seeds that fall, the seedlings that take hold, and the generations that follow. I think about the ancient forest that once covered this landscape, the clearing that followed, and the forest slowly returning.
I find hope in that continuity.
And every time I return to this blue quandong, I find something else to admire.
What stories grow at her feet? is an edition of three artist books, with an additional exhibition and handling copy, made for my exhibition Ghosts of Gondwana: In the Company of Trees.
Below are the individual pages of the book, followed by the poem that inspired it.
What stories grow at her feet?
She is a quiet giant of the forest
Anchored to volcanic soil
Horizontal arms stretch from her core
Heavy branches cradle the weight of years
Witness to the deep time shifting of continents
Clusters of white fringed petals hang
Alive with the hum of bees
Sapphire pearls suspended within the canopy
Raining crimson flames and sapphire spheres
Return to the forest floor
Where seedlings emerge from the weight of soil
She stood firm against cleared earth
Patience in her lichen-covered trunk
Seasons cycle around her
Buttress roots reaching for her children
Her stories growing at my feet
Written by Kim Herring, inspired by this beautiful tree
Colophon
Structure: Seven unbound sheets
Enclosure: Blind embossed Colorplan 350gsm
Embossed pages: Blind embossed Arches 88 300gsm, letterpress printed with 18pt Spectrum
Photographic pages: Archival pigment print on Hosho Heavy, impregnated with beeswax
Poem: “What stories grow at her feet” by Kim Herringe
Photography: Kim Herringe
The Forest Unfolding
What stories grow at her feet? is one of six artist books within The Forest Unfolding, a section of my Ghosts of Gondwana: In the Company of Trees solo exhibition.
Each book holds a different encounter with the forest, bringing together photography, printmaking, poetry and structure. You can read about all six books in The Forest Unfolding: six artist books asking us to slow down.
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