A long time ago in a place where all was not understood, not a thing made sense and I was very much smaller than everyone else.
Where the landscapes disintegrate and bodies fragment, where the surface is shinier, a distressed narrator struggles to form a sense of self. If I were a dog… but I’m a fish. MacCormack’s surreal, lush imagery and fragmented text reflect a harrowing account of trauma. He lives in the Dream of a Fantasy and breaks off pieces for us. As terror and alienation wash up on every shore, the child’s desire for belonging and human connection is undone by her critical eye, and an inability to accept that her perception of reality is unsound. All these awakenings are only small gasps of air sucked into the lungs. Then we go back under. Before the child drowns, the body transforms into creatures of the sea, while the Missing Ones still can’t be found anywhere. When we have long ago fallen off the places that might have made sense, where there are many fish, many directions, we are led to ask what it might have looked like if anyone was looking.
The author reveals a heart-wrenching portrayal of survival.
The See combines watercolour paintings, animation stills, digital collages and prose text from MacCormack's practice to create an illustrated narrative. The entire book is printed using a mock CMYK model, switching out process colours for Risograph spot colours.
Spend some time exploring Jessica MacCormack's website. This risographic tour de force was produced by JP King at Paper Pusher. The cover was printed by Justseeds own Jesse Purcell.
