Archipelago

art book specs:
7"x"10
36 pages
2 color risograph
+ 8" x 10" print and poem card insert

Archipelago is an art book of original images and photos. Playing off the obvious trope that "no man is an island", the name alludes to our separated yet collective mindsets and behaviors and the complicated communal identities we divide ourselves by. Visually, the book aims to convey the density of physical and emotional distance from others and oneself. Images are obscured and layered over one another to mirror the complexity of these issues and how they distort what we know and keep us solidified in our beliefs

My intention with this book is to shine light on the faults and dangers of group identity and group think. We exist with a constant pressure to identify with a larger entity or community and I feel that flattens our perspectives and fails to provide the nuance of the individual as a part of the collective. While the islands in an archipelago stick together and accompany each other, they are separated, individual pieces of land that aren't wholly subservient to the land mass. I believe that collective individualism is beautiful and imperative in creating empathy and celebrating the differences between us all. I aim to fight our desire to fully submit to a group ideology and force that to be our sole defining character trait.