I am excited to announce that the first edition of “Lotus“ is ready to go out into the world. The official release event for my fourth artist book will take place on Saturday June 15 at the Basel Art Book Fair, I Never Read.
June 15 at Kaserne Basel
The book will be available for sale at the stand of “Mafalda Tenente Editions” between June 12 and June 15, during the fair’s regular opening hours.
On Saturday, June 15 we will be marking “Lotus” official release, as follows:
- From 1pm I will be hosting a “Lotus” reading and artist talk on the fair’s radio broadcast schedule. It will broadcast live to fair visitors as well as online.
- From 1:30 pm onwards we will have a small celebration table. Here you may browse through “Lotus”, ask questions and get a personal signature on your copy
An illustrated fiction short story from Zurich
“That’s when it happened. The cheerful trill of a male blackcap echoed from the left, a brief fluttering line crossed the pond and disappeared. Straight into the leaves.”
“Lotus” is a mystery short story with a mild fantastic flair, about one artist’s pursuit of creative breakthrough from Zurich’s Old Botanical Garden in the summer season. How does the search for creative breakthrough feel? In what language or form does creativity communicate with the artist ? How do the choices we make unconsciously shape the possibilities around us. A brief story, light as the breeze blowing by a pond in summer.
“Lotus” is my first foray into fiction, fully illustrated using classical ink painting technique on paper. Five images following the development of the Japanese micro-season 32 “The lotus blossoms” from a single location. A two-thousand-word story inspired by the setting and the artist’s imagination.
Printed on Washi, wrapped in the colors of the season
“Lotus” is our first book printed on washi. We printed the entire edition as a fine art giclee print. Although it has only twelve pages, fine-tuning the printing quality of text and each individual image to the natural bleed characteristics of Japanese paper, especially a dense fibre one, was an intensive exercise. The printing result is warm and soft, but it is impossible to find one copy exactly like the other, given the random placement of the fibres along each sheet of paper.
The same usual care has gone into selecting papers fit to match the theme of the summer edition. The swirling, reflective fibre effect is a perfect match for the story’s scene of a garden pond where lotus flowers grow. The double cover of “Lotus” evokes the different shades of green in a single lotus leaf. A cool darker green above, a warmer yellowish green in its underside.
Our design features an open, semi-translucent window. Built from shared metaphors between botany and architecture, it is a minimalist design inspired by a single character borrowed from a classical Japanese poet.
All the details of the edition are on this dedicated page. After the official release of “Lotus”, we will add the secret development diary, shared with art enthusiasts between January and June 2024. Click the button to order your copy of “Lotus”
Other events for “Lotus” near you
We are currently looking to schedule other reading events for “Lotus” in Basel and Zurich through the remainder of 2024. Look out for other announcements on our main page https://mafaldatenente.com under “Latest” and the upcoming events listing at https://mafaldatenente.com/about/#events.
Get in touch through info[at]mafaldatenente.com if you wish to stock “Lotus” in your retail space and join our release schedule by organizing a book reading near you.
About the artist
Mafalda Tenente is an ink painting artist and book author based in Zurich, exhibiting regularly in Switzerland and Japan. Her last book, “Autumn in Japan”, was nominated for three book design awards. “Lotus” is her first illustrated fiction story.
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