with poems by Penny Boxall

ISBN: 9781910807446

Ashmolean Museum Publications

Paperback

Size: 5.83 in x 8.27 in

Pages: 76 Pages

Illustrations: 32 color

The hand is one of the most complex and beautiful pieces of natural engineering in the human body. Here, Naoko Matsubara's lovingly depicts hands in her color woodcuts -- abstract, yet representational forms -- hands engaged in sport, prayer, in a variety of creative acts, in movement and stillness, energetic, earthy, spiritual, and humorous -- all the ways in which we use these incredible 'instruments.' The award-winning artist's exploration into the eloquence of hands  began with watching her  infant son find ways he could use his hands -- to  pull, tug, squeeze, squash, pinch, pull rub, hold, search, clap, and rub, 

Paired with each woodcut are the new poems of Penny Boxall.

During the coronavirus pandemic the subject of hands –the idea of touch or its absence – has taken on new significance. Many of the images in this series have powerful new meanings -- : healing hands, hands finding ways to occupy hours of furlough, or hands clapping in support of those working to keep us safe.

A special touch is that the book design is by Yoshiki Waterhouse, Naoko Matsubara’s son, whose baby hands were the original inspiration for the series.

Now a Canadian, Naoko Matsubara was made a  member of the prestigious Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Her works are in museums from America to England to Germany, Israel Austria, Japan, and throughout the world.

Penny Boxall, a Britisher, is a winner of the Malesia/PBS Women's Poetry Competition (2018) and the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award (2016). Valley Press has published two of her collections.