The Maier Museum of Art
at Randolph College

Audrey Niffenegger – Poisonous Plants at Table

Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College’s 112th Annual Exhibition
Back to Front: Artists’ Books by Women

Audrey Niffenegger, collaboration with Trisha Hammer and printed by Martha Chiplis, Poisonous Plants at Table, Sherwin Beach Press: 2006, artist’s book set in Monotype Gill Sans and Joanna, letterpress printed in two colors on Mohawk Superfine and handmade Twinrocker; Japanese fabric-covered case, 5 ⅜ x 9 ¼ in. Courtesy of the artists.

Audrey Niffenegger, collaboration with Trisha Hammer and printed by Martha Chiplis, Poisonous Plants at Table, Sherwin Beach Press: 2006, artist’s book set in Monotype Gill Sans and Joanna, letterpress printed in two colors on Mohawk Superfine and handmade Twinrocker; Japanese fabric-covered case, 5 ⅜ x 9 ¼ in. Courtesy of the artists

This most unusual book incorporates selections from Poisonous Plants In Field and Garden by the Reverend Professor G. Henslow (first published in 1901), with Poisonous Plants at Table (selected menus and recommendations) by Dr. E. Coffin; and features Prudence: The Cautionary Tale of a Picky Eater, a short story written and illustrated by Audrey Niffenegger.

It is three books in one: first is the serious field guide, with illustrations of plants discussed, taken mostly from Bentham’s Handbook of British Flora, which used blocks by Walter Hood Fitch. Second is the set of four tongue-in-cheek seasonal party menus, each dish including a poisonous plant and giving a cross-referencee to Henslow. Last, but hardly least, is the original short story of Prudence. Niffenegger wrote the story and illustrated it with both ink drawings and watercolors. The four watercolors appear on 3-panel foldouts. Each of the four sections with story and menu is set off from the field guide by a wraparound of green Kosu Momi paper.

BIOGRAPHY

Artist Audrey NiffeneggerI was born in South Haven, Michigan, grew up in Evanston, Illinois, and now live in Chicago with frequent visits to London. I am married to the artist and writer Eddie Campbell.

I began making prints in 1978 under the tutelage of William Wimmer. I trained as a visual artist at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and received my MFA from Northwestern University’s Department of Art Theory and Practice in 1991. I have exhibited my artist’s books, prints, paintings, drawings and comics at Printworks Gallery in Chicago since 1987. In 2013, a major mid-career retrospective of my prints, paintings and artist’s bookworks opened at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC.

My first books were printed and bound by hand in editions of ten. Two of these have since been commercially published by Harry N. Abrams: The Adventuress and The Three Incestuous Sisters.
In 1997 I had an idea for a book about a time traveler and his wife. I originally imagined making it as a graphic novel, but eventually realized that it is very difficult to represent sudden time shifts with still images. I began to work on the project as a novel, and published The Time Traveler’s Wife in 2003 with the independent publisher MacAdam/Cage. It was an international best seller, and has been made into a movie.

In 1994 a group of book artists, papermakers and designers came together to found a new book arts center, the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts. I was part of this group and taught book arts for many years as an Associate Professor in Columbia College’s MFA program in Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts. Until May, 2015 I was a Professor on the faculty of the Columbia College Creative Writing Department. I’ve also taught for the Newberry Library, Penland School of Craft, Haystack, the University of Illinois at Chicago and other institutions of higher learning. I am currently on hiatus from teaching in order to get my own work done.

My second novel, Her Fearful Symmetry, was published in 2009 by Scribner (USA), Jonathan Cape (UK) and many other fine publishers around the world.

In 2008 I made a serialized graphic novel for the London Guardian, The Night Bookmobile, which was published in book form in September, 2010. In 2013, the illustrated novella, Raven Girl, was published in conjunction with the Royal Opera House Ballet production of Raven Girl, which was choreographed by Wayne McGregor. Raven Girl returned to the main stage at Covent Garden in October 2015.

Currently, I am working on a sequel to The Time Traveler’s Wife. The working title is The Other Husband. I am also continuing to work on The Chinchilla Girl in Exile. Eddie Campbell and I are at work on a collection of comics adaptations of some of my short stories.