Jackie Morris: Feather, Leaf, Bark and Stone

Feather, Leaf, Bark and Stone is a book of poems and meditations with a difference.

Each short text has been typed onto a small square of gold leaf, then photographed. There are 144 of these pieces arranged in a sequence which culminates in a glorious final section where the texts are typed directly onto leaves, bark and feathers.

Jackie started to write the pieces in 2020, shortly after her father died and just as lockdown began. For the first time ever she found herself unable to paint. The words grew out of her grief and, guided by her deep intimacy with the natural world, these short, hand-typed objects emerged to fill the space her paintings had left behind.

The texts are exquisite: full of the light and wind that fills the Pembrokeshire coast where they were written, each one anchored to the landscape by the mechanical rhythm of Jackie’s eight antique typewriters. The result is a collection of individual works of art that form a sequence to be both looked at and read. It is poetry re-imagined by a visual artist; words transformed back into their original function as images.

Feather, Leaf, Bark and Stone announces a new departure for Jackie Morris and confirms her as an artist and writer at the peak of her power.

Format: Hardback