Over the last severral years I have been engaged in two interdisciplinary and collaborative project, Imagining Science, and Perceptions of Promise, which examines the interface of science and art with a particular focus on the many complex ethical and legal questions that accompany advancements in biotechnology. Due to the rich and diverse dialogue related to these initiatives, I have been able to start a number of creative projects including the production of an artist-book, Lethe: River of Forgetfulness which is an unbound 22" x 31" portfolio with a title page, two pages of text, 8 images and colophon. The project is a further collaboration involving Professor Jonathan Hart, who will be wrote the text, and Associate Professor Susan Colberg, who engaged in the book design, including the design of the typography, the page layouts, and the portfolio.

For it's central theme, Lethe: River of Forgetfulness, uses the myth of the Lethe which Dante describes in Canto XXVIII of Purgatory as a stream found in the afterlife which once crossed removes from an individual the memory of all sinful acts- a powerful and evocative poetic image that raises complex questions about the nature evil in the world. In relation to the current state of biotechnology, I find there is an interesting parallel to the myth of Lethe because we live in a period where we can choose to selectively ‘forget' our biological past through the use of this new technology, raising difficult ethical issues, as well as complex questions about human nature.

In response to this idea, I have created a series of prints that are intended to suspended viewers between a number of associations including historic scientific illustrations/objects, fictional science, and biological forms, while simultaneously suggesting an imagined world of myth or religious cosmology. The prints shift between micro and macro readings, on the one hand referencing large-scale maps depicting river systems, and on the other hand, suggesting veins or capillaries within the interior of a body. Hart's accompanying prose text echoes these associations, and makes reference to historic scientists and naturalists working at the beginning of the Modern period such as Erasmus Darwin. Colberg's typography, page and portfolio design will pay homage to the historical subjects/periods referenced while remaining true to the contemporary period in which the visual and textual statements are being made.

It is our hope that Lethe: River of Forgetfulness will be a work that provides a shifting and layered experience that encourages viewers/readers to consider the complex forces which impact the ways in which knowledge is acquired and defined in society. It is also our intent that Lethe will be a compelling exploration of the possibilities of combining text and image within the artist's book format.

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