"Before the Many"

Cut from four pages of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, this work centres on the fig — a form that sits quietly at the edge of decision.

In the novel, Esther Greenwood imagines her life branching outward like a fig tree, each fruit representing a different future. As she hesitates, the figs begin to wrinkle and fall. Possibility collapses not through choice, but through delay.

Here, the fig is opened.

The interior is rendered as a dense, almost cellular structure — something closer to a mind than a fruit. Around it, a mirrored ornamental frame holds the form in place, suggesting both containment and display. The shape is presented as something to be studied, but also something that resists resolution.

The papercut is composed from multiple pages of the novel, with the underlying text remaining partially visible — fragments of narrative held beneath the image, never fully obscured.

This work informed Edition VII of The Novel Print Archive, where the idea of compression and internal pressure comes into focus.

Each studio edition is cut from different pages of the text, producing slight variations across the edition.

Hand-finished in the studio.

Signed and editioned.
Limited studio edition of 20.

Artwork is A3 in size (297mm x 420mm)

Presented in a hand-finished white wooden box frame with non-reflective UV glass.

Each Studio Release is cut and framed to order.
Please allow up to 10 days for dispatch.