Memories of My Father is an artist book with content consisting of memories of the artist’s father, who immigrated from India to the United States where he spent the last thirty years of his life. Images include her father’s walking stick, his bathrobe, his glasses and sandals, as well as his interests in music and in reading in front of the fire in the family room. Holman made the paper for the woodcuts at Pyramid from abaca and cotton, and toward the end of the beating process she added pieces of an old, handwoven cushion cloth from the family’s home in India. The border of one of the woodcuts for the cover includes a frieze from her house in India, and paper pocket folders serve to hold the small prints representing her father’s interests. Holman wanted the richness of the textures and intensity of layered inks on her artist-made papers to convey the way India feels, smells, and looks in her own memories.

Editions of the book are featured in the following collections: National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; George Mason University, Fairfax, VA; Environmental Design Library, UC Berkeley, CA; and Cerritos Library, Cerritos, CA.

Printer and Papermaker: Shireen Holman
Screenprinting Assistant: Bridget Lambert

Learn more about the artist:
shireenholman.com