First published 2006
Frank Boyden stands in his studio, surrounded by copper plates no bigger than business cards. Each one holds an image he carved in anger. The ceramic artist turned printmaker has spent twenty years capturing animals and landscapes, but now he focuses his drypoint needle on something darker. He sets out to create what he calls characters from creation's failures and cruel jokes. Boyden works methodically through ninety-six small plates, each one depicting humanity at its most terrible. The three-inch-by-two-inch images emerge from his needle like confessions. But as Boyden continues his work, something unexpected happens. The rage that drove him to start this series begins to shift. The process that began in bitterness transforms into something else entirely. What started as an exercise in capturing human awfulness becomes a journey toward understanding and compassion.
Genres: fiction, art, literary-fiction, contemporary
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-growth, redemption
80 pages · Paperback · Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University