This piece was made in collaboration with poet Margaret Yapp, a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop. We are long-time collaborators who share a mutual interest in palimpsests. Over a six-month period, she emailed me drafts of her MFA thesis manuscript. I was particularly drawn to her two-part poem Histories of Palimpsesting, as it struck me as obvious fodder for a material project. I transcribed the drafts in stages onto a calfskin and selectively sanded away my calligraphy to make room for future layers. At the final stage, I sanded away all the calligraphy—leaving only impressions of letters and traces of gouache behind—to mirror how early versions of Margaret’s poem became less visible with each revision. Paper strips featuring lines from the final poem are woven through two pairs of surface tears, which naturally resulted after multiple rounds of sanding the parchment. The final palimpsest honors the idea that as any creative piece evolves, most of the foundational work becomes invisible to the viewer.

Histories of Palimpsesting is part of Madison’s MFA thesis exhibition, Glimpsing Mirrors. The work is about internal dialogue, isolation, and loneliness.