Of Clay by Emily Sheffer

Of Clay is an artist book made in response to creation myths that use clay as the material from which life was first created. Artist Emily Sheffer draws from the specificity of her interests in ancient visual culture, geology, and pottery to create a photographic experience that asks why we are drawn to the earth as life-giving matter. A poem with extracted language from origin myths weaves its way throughout the pages of the book. Of Clay poses the question of why cultures throughout the centuries have turned to clay as a miraculous birth theme, consistently using the earth itself to answer the universal, unanswerable question, “Where do we come from?”

Edition of 50
9” x 11”
45 pages, 14 images

Autumn 2022, Designed by Emily Sheffer and published by Dust Collective.