Handmade book with individual plates sewn in by Olivia

Lee is a child who wants to know everything. She ceaselessly questions the world around her—the sea, the flowers, and the silence of adults who are too busy.

It is through a panther that she finds the answer to the question—the one usually left unspoken, which can only be approached through the detour of a story: the tale of her missing mother, carried away by the Creatures of the Sea.

Through the myth of Lee and the Creatures of the Sea, the book delicately explores major themes of memory, grief, and metamorphosis.

Olivia Arthur’s photo-collages play an integral role in this quest for meaning. Blending fragments, textures, and paint, these layered compositions serve as visual echoes of a memory attempting to piece itself back together.

Artist book, handmade at Fishbar. Edition of 30 copies, signed and numbered.

Made possible with the ‘fonds de soutien au livre photo jeunesse’ of the institute de la photography, France. Originally published in France by Bel et Bien.