Lyall Harris & Patricia Silva, 2014-present
A year after having met in Florence, Italy, book artists Lyall Harris and Patricia Silva embarked on a series of twelve collaborative book art projects. From the beginning, the artists set constraints for the process, both of materials and time, which forced them to work in an immediate, intuitive and exploratory way. Their process began with one artist providing the inspiration and starting materials, such as saved remnants, quotes, and ideas previously set aside. The receiving artist then had only weeks to bring the project to a “halfway” point, adding or editing materials sparingly during this phase. The project was then given back to the originating artist who finished the books (initially, in an edition of 2) in a few weeks’ time.
The varied work, which employs a range of image-making techniques and creative writing genres, has grown to include sculpture, installation, and creative exchanges that sometimes crisscross the Atlantic. The work addresses issues and histories from their shared perspectives in changing and complex environments. Their collaborations point to a unified aesthetic, as if made by one hand. More than a set intention, this is a natural outcome of their work together.
The Unapologetic Initiative
An ongoing interactive project that raises awareness about gender inequality, challenges societal expectations and empowers women
Project launch at the Virginia Center for the Book (2021)
The Unapologetic Initiative Instagram
Dear Ones,
An artists’ book and an installation: How we bear witness to another’s life through close correspondence
The Interpreted Object
Forgotten objects find new artistic and poetic expression in an installation and artists’ book
The Interpreted Object: Forgotten objects find new artistic and poetic expression: Center for Book Arts
Passato Prossimo
Donated objects of nostalgia re-imagined into 8 still lifes with corresponding texts
The Things That Ride Out Time
A poetic look at mundane and ephemeral objects and what, ultimately, will ride out time
?
A game of questions and answers about the “Mysteries of the Universe”
Notes from Overseas
A multi-part project of written and visual records about memory
The Dreamer, The Doer
Craft and perfectionism; a productive life versus a poetic one
A Concise Encyclopedia of Unknown Things That Belong Together
Unexpected narratives unfold and intersect in an “encyclopedic” format of text and image
Without Fault; Sans Défauts
The feminine ideal is examined via the artists’ own case files
Daily Specials
A menu format functions as an ironic and disturbing framework for immigration narratives
Check The Box
A matching game made from partially recycled materials reveals jarring facts about organ transplantation
Paper Boats
A photo-documentary illustrates the distressing loss of identity taking place in contemporary mass immigration to Europe
Featured in Voyages Journal of Contemporary Humanism
Island & Inlet
An original fable offers a nugget of wisdom about the connectedness of everything
A Still Point
Fading images and sparse text echo one another in a tenuous hold against dissolution
Goodbye Girl
Shadows and silhouettes overlap in a seven-act play about loss and letting go
Lyall Harris and Patricia Silva’s collaborative books can be found in many private collections and the following Special Collection libraries:
Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Florence, Italy
Carnegie Mellon University, Hunt Library, Pittsburgh, PA
College of William & Mary, Swem Library, Williamsburg, VA
Duke University, Perkins Library, Durham, NC
George Mason University, Fenwick Library, Fairfax, VA
James Madison University, Carrier Library, Harrisonburg, VA
Los Angeles Public Library, Central Library Special Collections, Los Angeles, CA
National Museum for Women in the Arts, The Betty Boyd Dettre Library, Washington DC
Otis College of Art & Design, Sheets Library, Los Angeles, CA
Ringling College of Art & Design, Alfred R. Goldstein Library, Sarasota, FL
Scripps College, Denison Library, Claremont, CA
Swarthmore College, McCabe Library, Swarthmore, PA
UCLA, Arts Library, Los Angeles, CA
UCSB, Davidson Library, Santa Barbara, CAUCSC, McHenry Library, Santa Cruz, CA
University of Colorado, Norlin Library, Boulder, CO
University of Connecticut, Dodd Research Center, Storrs, CT
University of Puget Sound, Collier Library, Tacoma, WA
University of Toronto, Victoria College, Pratt Library, Toronto, ON, Canada
University of Utah, Marriott Library, Salt Lake City, UT
University of Virginia, Albert and Shirley Small Library, Charlottesville, VA
Vanderbilt University, Heard Library, Nashville, TN
Virginia Commonwealth University, Cabell Library, Richmond, VA
Selected Links:
Jaffe Center for Book Arts “Artist of the Week,” 5-minute video, July 27, 2020
An interview with Patricia Silva by Lyall Harris on Shelf Life, a program of the Virginia Festival of the Book, 2020
“The Interpreted Object” artists’ book in Printing Through The Pandemic, University of Utah Marriott Library, 2020
Paper Boats is featured in Issue 8 (Fall 2018) of Voyages; Journal of Contemporary Humanism and is available for sale through Vamp & Tramp Booksellers
Paper Boats was awarded a Project Assistant Grant by the College Book Art Association and was made into an edition of 150
Andrew Smaldone writes about their collaborative work in On Words, 2016
Julie Chen “A Confluence of Vision” for “Meeting Places / Luoghi d’incontro” exhibition catalogue, 2017
Alisa Golden blogs about the exhibition “Meeting Places / Luoghi d’incontro,” 2017
Take Back, an interview with Barbara McVeigh, June 13, 2017
Collaborative Bookworks in Florence, Italy, 2015
Two-person & Group Exhibitions, Residencies & Talks
2025
Upcoming: College Book Art Association National Conference, “Artist or Archivist? Macro and Micro Considerations” (June 2025)
2023-24
Back to Front: Artists’ Books by Women, Maier Museum’s 112th Annual Exhibition, Randolph College, Lynchburg, VA (Oct 2023-April 2024) – group exhibition
Featuring an interactive installation of “The Unapologetic Initiative”
2022
Oltrarno Gaze: Bridges, Il Palmerino in conjunction with Advancing Women Artists Foundation and The British Institute, Florence, Italy (May-June, 2022) – group exhibition
Dear Ones, researched and developed in Florence, Italy (March 2020), for Bridges, inspired by the correspondence between early 20th-century artists and lifelong friends, Fillide Giorgi (Levasti) and Leonetta Pieraccini (Cecchi) – residency
BAMMM! Books & Art at Museo Marino Marini, Florence, Italy (March 2022) – group exhibition
2021
The Unapologetic Initiative, Virginia Center for the Book, Charlottesville, VA (September 5-12, 2021) – residency
The Unapologetic Initiative is an ongoing interactive project that raises awareness about gender inequality, challenges societal expectations and empowers women. This work addresses stereotypes and internal conditioning connected to female gender roles and finds form in a growing collection of phrases spotlighting the need many women feel to apologize for not meeting pervasive societal expectations. The Unapologetic Initiative, which includes the production of pins, cards, posters and stickers, invites participants to consider their own relationship to this issue.
Instagram: the_unapologetic_initiative
The Interpreted Object, Center for Book Arts, New York, NY (April 16-May 15, 2021) – featured exhibition
This exhibition includes a new edition in English of this 2018 project. The Interpreted Object Artists’ Book
Rising Together, An Exhibition of Zines, Artists’ Books, and Prints with a Social Conscience, traveling exhibition: University of Utah (fall 2018); Center for Book Arts (spring 2019); University of Iowa (fall 2019); HMCT/ArtCenter College of Design (spring 2020); University of Puget Sound (fall 2020); Mills College and San Francisco Center for the Book (spring 2021) – group exhibition, link to catalogue
2020
Habitat, SRISA Gallery & Studio 84, Florence, Italy (Jan 15-Feb 8, 2020) – group exhibition
2019
All Stitched Up, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA (Sept 3-Dec 11, 2019) – group exhibition
Engaged Editions, Booklyn, Brooklyn, NY (Nov 17, 2018-March 1, 2019) – group exhibition
Politics of Place, The Center for Book Arts, New York, NY (Jan 18-March 30, 2019) – group exhibition
2018
The Interpreted Object / L’oggetto interpretato, in conjunction with the 16th Annual Festival Internazionale di Poesia, Gallery Cartavetra, Florence, Italy, Festival event June 19, 6pm – two-person exhibition
As the artists collected objects over the course of months, in the US and in Italy, they searched for items where the original purpose or use had been lost. The “action” intrinsic to the item—a knife cuts, a spoon stirs—was therefore also lost, which allowed the artists to assign new actions (verbs), according to what they perceived to be the “spirit” of the object. Along with the verbs came poetic phrases that further interpreted these intriguing objects. Verbs and phrases found form in corresponding booklets, one for each object. Through the (re)discovery of 64 objects, Lyall and Patricia revisited familiar themes—motherhood, loss, memory, and relationships—in new ways.
Opulence, Center for Book Arts, New York, NY (July 11-Sept 22, 2018) – group exhibition
39th Annual Paper in Particular, Columbia College, Columbia, MO (Feb 19-March 30, 2018) – group exhibition
Open Structures: Artist Books / Strutture Aperte: Libri d’Artista, Temple University Rome Campus, Rome, Italy (Feb 20-March 1, 2018) – group exhibition
Ink, Press, Repeat, William Paterson University Galleries, Wayne, NJ (April 2-May 9, 2018) – group exhibition
2017
Meeting Places / Luoghi d’incontro, 12 books and installation, including a selection of work from Passato Prossimo, San Francisco Public Library (June 10-Sept 14, 2017), Opening reception June 15, 5-7pm, Artists’ Talk 6pm – two-person exhibition
Passato Prossimo, SRISA Gallery, Florence, Italy (March 23-April 21, 2017). Harris and Silva built this exhibition of sculpture, photography and text on the theme of nostalgia. The artists worked in the gallery space in a real-time, “performance” residency, using donated objects and ephemera resulting from an open call for materials.
Opening reception April 5, 6:30pm – residency & two-person exhibition
Meeting Places / Luoghi d’incontro: a selection of 8 bookworks, Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, Crozet, VA (Jan 31-March 14, 2017), Artist’s Talk Feb 22, 7pm – two-person exhibition
Conspire: Collaboration, Cooperation, Collection, Florida State University, College Book Art Association’s juried members’ exhibition (Jan 13-Feb 10, 2017) – group exhibition
Degrees of Innovation, San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA (Oct 13, 2017-Jan 14, 2018) – group exhibition
Assemblage: A Collection of Works by UArts Faculty and Alumni, Philadelphia, PA (Nov 27, 2017-Jan 12, 2018) – group exhibition