Lichen 5
© 2026
Edition of unique artists book
Dimensions in inches (closed): 6 x 2.7 x 4.25
Materials
Book: oak, brass, wood stain, wax, paper, mica, plant specimens, graphite, laser toner, fusion foil
Five panels of thick oak hinged with brass hinges. Each of the three interior pages have cavities that contain either lichen specimens or original text. The text is a brief personal essay with memories and observations of lichen. The specimens are protected with mica sheet; the text panels are laser toner with fusion foil on paper.
Full text:
I was fascinated by lichen long before I knew it had a name, the intriguing bits clinging to granite and tree stumps during family mountain excursions that, for me, began in infancy and continue to this day. I have vague pre-verbal memories, strangely mingled with the smell of my own wet diaper, of scraping lichen from a rotting stump,
intent on discovering how those brightly colored fragments would feel and taste in my mouth.
Dirt seasoning.
The fascination persists, now enriched by curiosity and by knowledge both researched and observed.
These portable ecosystems, partnerships of interdependent life, reproduce asexually by scattering living fragments of themselves to colonize new ground. They have endured on this planet for roughly four billion years, far longer than Homo sapiens.
They will almost certainly outlast our present era of destructive capitalism, continuing to thrive after the rest of us are
long gone.
Lichen 5
© 2026
Edition of unique artists book
Dimensions in inches (closed): 6 x 2.7 x 4.25
Materials
Book: oak, brass, wood stain, wax, paper, mica, plant specimens, graphite, laser toner, fusion foil
Five panels of thick oak hinged with brass hinges. Each of the three interior pages have cavities that contain either lichen specimens or original text. The text is a brief personal essay with memories and observations of lichen. The specimens are protected with mica sheet; the text panels are laser toner with fusion foil on paper.
Full text:
I was fascinated by lichen long before I knew it had a name, the intriguing bits clinging to granite and tree stumps during family mountain excursions that, for me, began in infancy and continue to this day. I have vague pre-verbal memories, strangely mingled with the smell of my own wet diaper, of scraping lichen from a rotting stump,
intent on discovering how those brightly colored fragments would feel and taste in my mouth.
Dirt seasoning.
The fascination persists, now enriched by curiosity and by knowledge both researched and observed.
These portable ecosystems, partnerships of interdependent life, reproduce asexually by scattering living fragments of themselves to colonize new ground. They have endured on this planet for roughly four billion years, far longer than Homo sapiens.
They will almost certainly outlast our present era of destructive capitalism, continuing to thrive after the rest of us are
long gone.
