Image from Jesse Bransford, A Book of Staves
Icelandic folk magic and magical texts—so-called low and high magic—combine as sources and inspiration for A Book of Staves by Jesse Bransford, chair of Steinhardt’s Department of Art and Art Professions.
The book represents a series of pencil and watercolor drawings that describe the natural world as the artist experienced it in his travels in the Icelandic landscape; the works are spiritual aspirations as expressed through drawing.
Published by Fulgur Press as a cloth-bound book and distributed through ARTBOOK/ DAP, a special edition of the work was produced, each gold-tipped and bound in a limp vellum cover with yapp edges and silk ties, reminiscent of ancient manuscript bindings. Housed in a clamshell case, each copy contains a unique drawing that sits squarely within the style and intentions of the works represented in the book.
