A Journey to the edge of YON through endless dreams and portals

A handmade book and film by Mary Thorp and Ruth Thorp

Mary Thorp

Ruth Thorp

, and

Steve Thorp

Aug 05, 2024

Unpsychology Magazine’s 10th anniversary issue is on the theme of EDGES. The magazine is published in digital and print formats.

This post is the part of a series of multimedia pieces and collaborations published on this Unpsychology Substack offering further content and context to their original articles in the magazine. Images from Mary Thorp’s handmade book appear in the PDF and print editions of Unpsychology Edges. This post also features a new film by Mary, with music by Ruth Thorp.

You can download a FREE copy of EDGES from HERE, and order a print copy from HERE.

A Journey to the edge of YON through endless dreams and portals

A handmade book and film by Mary Thorp with music by Ruth Thorp

(Video artwork by Mary Thorp. Music by Ruth Thorp. Poetry by Steve Thorp)1

Mary writes:

I like the word ‘yon’- it has strong associations with quests and legends, folktales and fables and ancient mythology.

The protagonists in these stories are always on a journey and along the way other characters assure them that their route lies yonder. A casual wave implies they must certainly travel a way further in that direction.

If the travellers find themselves at the edge of Yon, they have pretty much cracked it…except they cannot stop there. The main event - and the purpose of their quest - likes to reside in the middle, protected by charms and portals.

And so they journey onwards to confront their fate.

The pages of this book are made from a stack of messy practice prints. I couldn’t really repeat any of them deliberately, they just emerged from experimenting with the process of intaglio and relief collagraph making.

If I’m honest I prefer this accidental way of beginning a project, the marks on the paper acting as a subconscious prompt. And I like working with constraints, using what I have and mulling over the ideas that the images spark.

The book grew organically from hours of staring at these prints. Eventually I was brave enough to cut into them, figuring they are just bits of paper and ink after all, and not precious.

But now they do feel precious; I love what they have become. It is a strange little book with a cinematic quality and a nostalgic throwback to the tunnel books I loved peering through as a child. The title came to me sitting on a rock in a wild meadow, in the sort of place where all the best adventures begin.

Video and book, A journey to the edge of YON through endless dreams and portals by Mary Thorp. Music, Astronaut Dreaming by Ruth Thorp: https://www.ruththorpstudio.com/music. Poem, Wild Night from Soul Meditations by Steve Thorp, illustrated by Ruth Thorp, published by Raw Mixture Publishing.