Europa (hardback)

Europa is a science fiction, inspired by the moon of Jupiter, as well as Greek myth and current political developments.

The cover illustration leans on William Blake’s frontispiece illustration for ‘Europa, a Prophesy’. I replaced Urizen with the female figure of Europa. The Return of Europa is a title I chose with reference to the abduction of Europa by Zeus / Jupiter.

Inside, the book is framed by vignettes of Europa and Jupiter. The centre shows them travelling through Space on their way back to Earth.

Then the book unfolds twice more to eight times its size. The illustration on the first pull-out spread shows the alienated figures of Europa and Jupiter on the planet Jupiter with the moon Europa in the background. There are references to the original abduction carried out by Jupiter’s deceptive disguise as a bull.

On the final spread the large panelled illustration features Europa and Jupiter having arrived back on Earth, the moon now rising in full size behind the cityscape, inspired by Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. The arrival is characterised by splintered fragments bursting through clouds and breaking up buildings.

The inside folded sheet is stitched and glued to the spine. It is printed in two colours on one side and three colours on the other. 

The cover is cloth bound and screen printed in three colours. The end papers are screen printed in two colours on 160gsm antique cream Heritage Book.

folded size: 34 x 20 cm, Unfolded: 78 x 67 cm, weight: 350gm

cover: screen printed book cloth on greyboard

inside: 175gsm Somerset Book, printed at MSP Screen Printing in 2017, cover 2019, signed and numbered edition of 12