Periodicity
Poet Iris A. Law asked me to design the cover for her 2012 poetry chapbook celebrating the women behind some of history's most illuminating scientific discoveries. The cover was inspired by Anna Atkins, a pioneering English botanist whose interest in photography as a means of recording botanical specimens led her not only to new understandings of plants but new potential of the cyanotype.
- Cyanotype
- Design
↑ “In PERIODICITY, Iris Law dedicates herself to the subject of women and the scientific pursuits that enthralled them and in most cases became their lifelong obsession and work. ...The lessons they learned from studying the natural world are much like lessons that are valuable to the poet: attention to the sensuous details of the widest array of material existence, to the urge to document, name, and create taxonomies; to tease order out of chaos and the ineffable. Working within both metaphorical and gendered frameworks, the women in these poems successfully refute the fixities inherent in any idea of classification. They proclaim, ‘We do not mirror one another. Rather, we resist replication, shaping our stories stubbornly against our chosen vectors . . .’ To the landscape of contemporary poetry, Iris Law brings a striking and intelligent sensibility, and a lovely, lucid voice; I look forward to reading more from this young poet in the near future.” — Luisa A. Igloria
Periodicity by Iris Law is available from Finishing Line Press.