Ian Boyden
Ian Boyden is a visual artist, translator, and writer. Consistent across his productions are an intense interest in material relevance, place-based thought, and ecology, with a deep awareness of East Asian aesthetics. He studied for several years in China and Japan, and ultimately received degrees in the History of Art from Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT) and Yale University. His work is interdisciplinary, and collaborations have involved a variety of scientists, poets, composers, and other visual artists.
Boyden’s art often links the literary, material, and visual imaginations, paying keen attention to how his work can shape ecological awareness. Boyden makes his own paints and inks from unusual materials such as meteorites, shark teeth, freshwater pearls, and carbon sourced from the aftermath of forest fires. He selects materials to establish a direct link between them and the subjects of his paintings, establishing a new form of material translation. His work has been exhibited widely, including a recent solo exhibition at the I.M. Pei designed Suzhou Museum. His books and paintings are found in many public collections including Reed College, Stanford University, the Portland Art Museum, and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Boyden is also a speaker, writer, translator, and curator. While serving as Director of the Sheehan Gallery at Whitman College (1998–2007), he curated numerous exhibitions exploring diverse subjects including contemporary artists of the Northwest, Chinese calligraphy and scholars stones, genetic imaging, and climate change. Pursuing his interest in human rights, he has worked with two Chinese dissident writers and artists, Tsering Woeser and Ai Weiwei. In 2016, Boyden curated the exhibition Ai Weiwei: Fault Line, which led to his current manuscript of poems “A Forest of Names.” His translations of Woeser’s poems have appeared on several human rights and Tibetan cultural websites, including Radio Free Asia, Invisible Tibet, and High Peaks Pure Earth. Boyden was awarded a 2019 NEA Literature Translation Fellowship to translate a manuscript of Woeser's poetry. He has authored and co-authored several books and essays including The Tables of Jupiter: Graphic Work by Timothy C. Ely (2004), Reflections on Forgotten Surfaces: The Calligraphy of Hua Rende (2005), and Roots of Clouds, Transcendence of Stones (2006). In 2011, Boyden returned to China to research the history and production of carbon inks for a forthcoming book. He currently lives on the Oregon coast.
Ian Boyden
Professional Experience
1997–present Artist and Art Consultant
2017–present Co-Director of The Multiverse, San Juan Island, Washington
2015–2016 Executive Director, San Juan Island Museum of Art, Friday Harbor, Washington
2011-2012 Independent Consultant to the JY Gallery, Suzhou, China
1998–2007 Director of the Donald H. Sheehan Gallery / Curator of the Davis Collection / Adjunct Lecturer, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington
Education
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
M.A. in the History of Art, December 1998
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut
B.A. in Art History and East Asian Studies, May 1995
Residencies, Fellowships, & Awards
H.J. Andrews Writer's Residency, H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Blue River, Oregon, 2014
Artist-in-Residence, Grass Mountain Residency for the Arts, Otis, OR, 2013
Artist-in-Residence, Lan Su Chinese Garden, Portland, OR, 2013
Artist-in-Residence, Jia Yuan, Suzhou, China, 2012
Artist-in-Residence, Suzhou University, Suzhou, China, 2011–12
Allison B. Allen Artist-in-Residence, Central College, Pella, IA, 2009
Voted Best Work on Paper—2007, Willamette Week, Portland, OR, 2007
Richard J. Franke Fellowship, Yale University, 1997
Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, China, 1995
Freeman Prize for Excellence in East Asian Studies, Wesleyan University, 1995
Beulah Friedman Prize for Excellence in Art History, Wesleyan University, 1995
Current Projects
“Forest of Names.” A manuscript of poems translating and meditating on the names of 5,196 schoolchildren killed in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. These names were collected by Ai Weiwei’s Citizens Investigation, and have been the subject of numerous art works and exhibitions of his since 2008. Looking for a publisher.
“Not Yet Not Yet Complete.” An interview with Ai Weiwei investigating his life and work through the lenses of poetry, compassion, and Buddhism. Looking for a publisher.
“The Lhasa Notebooks.” A translation of poetry from Chinese of Tibetan writer and dissident Tsering Woeser, as well as an essay about the influence of Russian poets on her work, especially that of Anna Akhmatova and Osip Mandelstam.
“Minority.” A translation of poetry from Chinese of Tibetan writer and dissident Tsering Woeser. This project is made possible with an NEA Translation Fellowship.
“Mind of Carbon.” A book of essays and photographs meditating on self-immolation.
“Night on the Carbon Sea.” A book of essays on carbon ink.
Artist Books, Commissions, installations & Collaborative Projects
2017
Palm. Immersive installation inspired by the life and work of W.S. Merwin. Collaboration with Edward Morris and Susannah Sayler. American Writers Museum, Chicago, Illinois
The Multiverse. Design, construction, and opening of a studio located on San Juan Island, Washington.
2016 Self-Immolation. Self-portrait carved from a large piece of maple and then burned.
2015 Sonify. Video documenting my ecological explorations of Mill Creek, Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon.
Sound Boundary. Land art installation of a one mile-long line of wildflowers marking the boundary of a river's sound to explore perceptual aspects of what a river is. Engaged expertise of geomorphologist and field biologist. In process. Blue Mountains, Oregon.
2014 Entering the River. Multi-dimensional installation exploring the ecology of a mountain stream, working with geologist and stream ecologist. In process. Blue Mountains, OR.
2013 Playing Weiqi in the Shadow of My Teachers. Lan Su Chinese Garden, Portland, Oregon.
Avian Flame. Installation of seed heads at Grass Mountain, Otis, Oregon.
2012 JY Gallery. Design and construction oversight of a 4,700 sq ft art gallery for the Jin Cheng Media Group, located in the Jia Yuan Garden, Suzhou, China. The gallery occupies a two story building nestled in the northeast corner of the garden, with a total of 2,800 sq ft of exhibition space and 750 sq ft of storage space.
Manifold. Large-scale, interactive fabric installation at the Jia Yuan Studio, Suzhou, China.
Edible Earth. A collaborative book of photographs by Ian Boyden and poems by Sam Hamill. Suzhou, China: Crab Quill Press.
Immortal Feast: Knowing the Happiness of Fish. Installation of 15 self-portraits submerged in a pond. Each head was fitted to dispense food from the mouth, eyes, or ears. Jia Yuan Garden, Suzhou, China.
2011 Lapland Moth. Unique book made from an iron meteorite.
Sidereal Heart. Unique book made from an iron meteorite.
Immortal Feast: Black Bear Blue Mountains. Self-portrait made of dried fish, marshmallows, and bird seed set out in the Blue Mountains. Documentation with motion-activated infrared cameras.
2010 Field of the Sky. Unique book made from an iron meteorite with an accompanying painting made using the meteorite dust. Commissioned by Whitman College in memory of Rina Imperial. Hall of Science, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington.
The Heart of the Monster: Why the Pacific Northwest & Northern Rockies Must Not Become an ExxonMobil Conduit to the Alberta Tar Sands. I collaborated with Rick Bass, David Duncan, Steven Hawley, and Frederic Ohringer to produce this piece of environmental activism. Missoula, MT: All Against The Haul.
Squaring the Circle. During the course of 2010, I collaborated extensively with Timothy C. Ely. Our work resulted in 23 paintings, many of which were debuted in the exhibition "Squaring the Circle" at The Art Spirit Gallery in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
2009 Al-Mutanabbi Street Broadside Project. 130 printers and writers collaborated to produce broadsides in response to the bombing of Iraq. All proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders.
2008 Habitations. A collaborative manuscript book of paintings by Ian Boyden and poem by Sam Hamill. Walla Walla, Washington: Crab Quill Press.
Ochi Grave Marker. Commemorative stone marker for Fred and Yoshiko Ochi commissioned by the Ochi family. Idaho Falls, Idaho.
River Through the Valley of Fire. Graphic design of an exhibition catalogue for American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, California.
Coexistence with Fire. Graphic design of an exhibition catalogue for American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, California.
Etched in Stone: The Geology of City of Rocks National Reserve and Castle Rocks State Park, Idaho. Graphic design of a book for Idaho Geological Society, Moscow, Idaho.
2007 Conversations Across Time. Graphic design of an exhibition catalogue for C. G. Boerner, New York, New York.
2006 The Oystercatcher and the Pearl Feather: A Sequence of Paintings by Ian H. Boyden. Walla Walla, Washington: Crab Quill Press.
2005 Near to the Place Where They Should Meet. A collaborative manuscript book of drawings and paintings by Ian H. Boyden and Timothy C. Ely. Jointly published by Crab Quill Press and Planetary Collage.
Segments along a Horizon: A Sequence of Paintings by Ian H. Boyden. Walla Walla, Washington: Crab Quill Press.
2004 Convergences. A large-scale columnar basalt and bronze sculpture by Ian and Jennifer Boyden. Commissioned by Blue Mountain Arts Alliance and the City of Walla Walla.
The Creator is without Words. A stone stele featuring the calligraphy of Bai Qianshen engraved into a basalt column. Produced for Walla Walla Foundry, Walla Walla, Washington.
The Irreverences, Provocations & Connivances of Uncle Skulky. An artist’s book featuring a suite of twenty-one prints, one self-portrait and several original drawings by Frank Boyden. Walla Walla, Washington: Crab Quill Press.
The Field of Aki. An artist’s book featuring a poem by Kakinomoto no Asomi Hitomaro (Japanese, fl. Late 7th c.); written translation by Edward Morris; calligraphy by Bai Qianshen; and prints by Frank Boyden. Walla Walla, Washington: Crab Quill Press.
2003 Serpentine Torso. A stone and bronze collaborative sculpture with Wayne Chabre.
Evidence of Night. An artist’s book featuring poems by Jennifer Boyden, prints and drawings by Frank Boyden. Walla Walla, Washington: Crab Quill Press.
On the Synaesthesia of Spheres. Watercolors and essay by Ian Boyden. Walla Walla, Washington: Crab Quill Press.
2002 The Augury of a Cranefly. Collected, Composed & Calligraphed by Ian Boyden. Walla Walla, Washington: Crab Quill Press.
2001 Twenty Views of Cascade Head. An artist’s book featuring prints by Charles Chu and Frank Boyden, poems by J. Cailin Oakes and Ian Boyden. Walla Walla, Washington: Crab Quill Press.
Parts and Pieces: A Brief Bestiary. An artist’s book featuring prints and drawings by Rick Bartow and Frank Boyden. Walla Walla, Washington: Crab Quill Press.
2000 Bird Spirits: Nine Pieces for Jane Boyden. An artist’s book featuring piano pieces by William Bolcom, prints by Frank Boyden. Walla Walla, Washington: Crab Quill Press.
1999 Peach Blossom Fish: Selected Poems Composed & Calligraphed by Chang Ch’ung-ho. An artist’s book featuring poems and calligraphy by Chang Ch’ung-ho and translations by Hans H. Frankel, Ian Boyden, and Edward Morris. Walla Walla, Washington: Crab Quill Press.
1998 A Mischievity of Craneflies. Ian Boyden. Otis, Oregon: Crab Quill Press.
1997 A Carousel at Birth. An artist’s book featuring a poem by Ian Boyden, prints by Frank Boyden. Portland, Oregon: Salient Seedling Press.
SELECTED Solo Exhibitions
2015 Tripod Complex. Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut.
Nirvana: Ecological Meditations. Foundry Gallery, Walla Walla, Washington.
2014 Carbon-based Art Forms. Gallerie Camille, Detroit, Michigan
Echoes of Earth. Seven Hills Winery, Walla Walla, Washington.
2012 Flowing Movement: The Material Imagination of Ian Boyden《流动：薄英的艺术世界》. Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China.
2011 Origins and Correspondence: Paintings by Ian Boyden. Chengtan School, Xinchang, Zhejiang Province, China.
Echoes of Earth, Part III. Seven Hills Winery, Walla Walla, Washington.
Eccentric Orbits. Willow Gallery, Walla Walla, Washington.
2010 Feathers Shed from a Meteor. Davidson Galleries, Seattle, Washington.
Squaring the Circle: Collaborative Paintings by Ian Boyden and Timothy C. Ely. The Art Spirit Gallery, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
Field of the Sky. Art Museum of Eastern Idaho, Idaho Falls, Idaho.
2009 Drinking with the Moon. Seven Hills Winery, Walla Walla, Washington.
Ian Boyden: Collaborative Artist’s Books. Mills Gallery, Central College, Pella, Iowa.
2008 Let the Stones Tell It: Recent paintings and collaborative book with Sam Hamill. Augen Gallery, Portland, Oregon.
Echoes of Earth, Part II. Seven Hills Winery, Walla Walla, Washington.
Habitations: Recent paintings and book with Sam Hamill. Davidson Galleries, Seattle, Washington.
2007 A Selection of Artist Books Produced by Crab Quill Press, Hauser Library, Reed College, Portland, Oregon.
Echoes of Earth: Landscapes Interpreting the Terroir of Eastern Washington. Seven Hills Winery, Walla Walla, Washington.
Shorelines: Paintings by Ian H. Boyden. Augen Gallery, Portland, Oregon.
2006 Standing on the Shores of Chaos: Paintings by Ian H. Boyden. Rogers Gallery, Willamette University, Salem, Oregon.
Alchemical Feathers: Paintings and Books by Ian H. Boyden. Foundry Gallery, Walla Walla, Washington.
Recent Paintings by Ian Boyden. Davidson Galleries, Seattle, Washington.
2005 Meditations on the Breath of Trees: Paintings by Ian Boyden. Pendleton Center for the Arts, Pendleton, Oregon.
Mirror Over Tunguska: Paintings by Ian Boyden. Augen Gallery, Portland, Oregon.
Translations from the Azurite: Paintings by Ian Boyden. Ochi Fine Art, Ketchum, Idaho.
Road Through Sleep: Paintings by Ian Boyden. Woodward Canyon Winery, Lowden, Washington.
2004 Virga and the Synaesthesia of Spheres: Paintings by Ian Boyden. Seven Hills Winery, Walla Walla, Washington.
Primordia and Other Fancies: Paintings by Ian Boyden. Grapefields, Walla Walla, Washington.
2003 Woven and Unwoven Light: New Paintings. Crab Quill Press, Walla Walla, Washington, Part of the “ArtWalla Art Promenade.”
2002 Paging Through: Books by Crab Quill Press. Seven Hills Winery, Walla Walla, Washington.
1990 The Galloping Ghost. Nanjing University, Nanjing, P.R. China.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2013 Alumni II. Zilkha Gallery, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut.
Mirror Mirror: Ian Boyden and Wuon-Gean Ho. Lan Su Chinese Garden, Portland, Oregon.
Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition. Multiple venues: San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA; The Cambridge Arts Council, Cambridge, MA; Santa Fe University of Art and Design; Newark Public Library; John Rylands Library, Manchester, UK.
2012 Brilliant Artist Books from around the World 《钻石之叶——全球艺术家手制书展》. Curated by Xu Bing. Central Academy of Fine Arts Art Museum, Beijing, China.
Portfolios and Artist Books. Davidson Galleries, Seattle, Washington.
Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition. Multiple venues: Westminster Library, Westminster, UK; The Powell Library, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA; Salt & Cedar Letterpress Studio, Detroit, Michigan.
2011 Blurring the Lines—A Drawing Exhibition. Davidson Galleries, Seattle, Washington.
Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition. Multiple venues: Joure Museum, Joure, Netherlands; Wayne State University Library, Detroit, Michigan.
One of a Kind: Artist’s Books. Pierre Menard Gallery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Collection of the Southwest Meteorite Laboratory. Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
Conference on Book Destruction. University of London, London.
2010 Object Focus: The Book. Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, Oregon.
Al-Mutanabbi Street Broadside Project, San Francisco Zen Center, San Francisco, California.
Southwest Meteorite Laboratory, Geodecor, Tucson, Arizona.
Sitka Invitational, Forestry Center, Portland, Oregon.
2007 Gadzooks! Amazing Books by Northwest Artists. Maryhill Museum, Goldendale, Washington.
Books & Broadsides. Lower Columbia College, Washington.
2006 Scapes: Environments Interpreted. Irvine Fine Art Center, Irvine, California.
2005 Art of Ink—2005. Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea.
Art of Ink—2005. New York Hall of Science, Brooklyn, New York.
Pushing the Margins: An Exhibition of Northwest Book Arts. White Lotus Gallery, Eugene, Oregon.
2004 The Field of Aki. Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, Oregon.
The Enchantment of the Artist Book. Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon.
Art of Ink—2004. Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, Alabama.
2003 Art of Ink—2003. Shaanxi Provincial Art Museum, Xi’an, P.R.China.
2002 Art of Ink—2002. Contemporary Crafts Gallery, Portland, Oregon.
2000 Art of Ink—2000. National Taiwan Arts Education Institute, Taipei, Taiwan.
Art of Ink—2000. Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey.
1999 Art of Ink—1999. Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, Los Angeles, California.
Visible Poetry: The Word as Abstraction. Bush Barn Art Center, Salem Oregon.
1998 Art of Ink—1998. Moolpha Group, Seoul, South Korea.
Book Arts at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. Newport Visual Art Center, Newport, Oregon.
A Carousel at Birth. Wessel and Lieberman Booksellers, Seattle, Washington.
1996 Gulou Exhibition Hall, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China.
Catalogues, interviews, and Reviews
Alexrod, David, “Fragile as an Urn: An Interview with Ian Boyden,” in basalt, online: https://www.eou.edu/basalt/2018/05/06/fragile-as-an-urn-an-interview-with-ian-boyden/, May 6, 2018.
Gordon, Milissa, “What Rises from Remains: Interview with Ian Boyden,” in Poor Yorick Journal, online: http://pooryorickjournal.com/what-rises-from-remains/, January 27, 2016.
Gordon, Melissa, "Ian Boyden Transforms 4.5-Million-Year-Old Meteorite," in Poor Yorick Journal, online: http://www.pooryorickjournal.com/ian-boyden-transforms-4-5-million-year-old-meteorite-into-book/, October 2014.
Ely, Timothy C., “With Forces Older than Our Sun,” in Basalt Magazine, 2014.
Bai, Qianshen, et. al, Flowing Movement: The Material Imagination of Ian Boyden. Shanghai: Shanghai Cultural Press (in cooperation with JY Fine Art and the Suzhou Museum), 2012.
Zhou, Hangyu (周杭瑜), “Art is to Make Things Dreamy with Your Own Hands—An Interview with Ian Boyden” 《艺术就是亲手让物质变得梦幻——薄英访谈》, in Art World 《艺术世界》, (Aug 2012, Vol. 266) Shanghai, China.
Zhang, Ping (张平), “Ian Boyden—A Conversation with an American Artist about Chinese Calligraphy”《薄英——一位热爱和研究中国书法的美国人》, Zhongguo Shufa 《中国书法》 (Chinese Calligraphy) Beijing, China, 2012.
Liu, Xin (刘欣), “An American Artist Shares Stories about Chang Ch’ung-ho《一位美国人与张充和的“桃花鱼”缘 》, in Suzhou Ribao 《苏州日报》，Suzhou, China (January 16, 2012).
Wallace, Eileen, Masters: Artist Books: Major Works by Leading Artists. Asheville, NC: Lark Books, 2011.
Wilson, Mindy, “Percolations of the Void,” in The Georgia Review (Winter 2010).
Musolf, Peter, “The bottle as a mystic portal,” in Walla Walla Lifestyles (November 2010).
Sicha, Choire, “The Oldest Book in the World: Ian Boyden's Field of the Sky,” in Mischief + Mayhem (October 2, 2010).
Chen, Xiaowei (陈晓维), “Ian Boyden, Chang Ch'ung-ho, Peach Blossom Fish,” 《薄英，充和，桃花鱼》online essay on 陈晓维的BLOG (http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_3f51e9190100kapz.html), (July 8, 2010).
Popova, Dena, “Boyden's literary, longing skeletons at Seven Hills Winery Tasting Room,” in Walla Walla Union-Bulletin (October 22, 2009).
Speer, Richard, “Ian Boyden: Let The Stones Tell It at Augen Gallery,” in art ltd. (March 2009, pg. 27), Woodland Hills, California.
Speer, Richard, “Ian Boyden at Augen,” in Willamette Week (Volume 33, Issue 20 (March 28, 2007, pg. 60), Portland, Oregon.
Walsh, Daniella, “Taking a fresh look at the land,” in Orange County Register, Arts and Entertainment pg. 15 (Oct 1, 2006).
Cowan, Ron, “Inspired by Chinese history, painter delves into chaos,” in The Statesman Journal (September 29, 2006), Salem, Oregon.
Greenwood, Kevin, “Ian Boyden: At the Vibrant Epicenter,” in Standing on the Shores of Chaos. Salem, Oregon: Willamette University, 2006.
Hunter, Julia, “Ian Boyden’s Alchemical Feathers,” in Alchemical Feathers. Walla Walla, Washington: Walla Walla Foundry, 2006.
Dong, Qiao (董桥) “Qianshen Bai brings a copy of Peach Blossom Fish” 《白谦慎带来了《桃花鱼》》, online essay appearing on Sina Xinwen Zhongxin (http://news.sina.com.cn/s/2005-07-26/17047330066.shtml), (June 13, 2005).
Toedtemeier, Terry, “On Ian Boyden and ‘Meditations on the Breath of Trees,’” in Meditations on the Breath of Trees. Pendleton, OR: Pendleton Center for the Arts, 2005.
Murry, Terry, “Artist catches the wind,” in the Eastern Oregonian (October 13, pg. 6a), Pendleton, Oregon, 2005.
Lamberton, Daniel, “Geographical Blood: Ian Boyden’s New Paintings,” in Translations from the Azurite/Mirror Over Tunguska: Paintings by Ian H. Boyden. Co-published by Ochi Fine Art (Ketchum, Idaho) and Augen Gallery (Portland, Oregon) 2005.
Kim, Sun Wuk, Art of Ink in America—2003. Xi’an, P.R.China: Shanxi Provincial Art Museum, 2002.
Kim, Sun Wuk, Art of Ink in America—2002. Portland, Oregon: Contemporary Crafts Gallery, 2002.
Kim, Sun Wuk, Art of Ink in America—2000. Newark, NJ: Rutgers University, 2000.
Selected Publications
POETRY
“Study the Axe Handle,” Vox Populi, 2018
Selections from “A Forest of Names,” online edition basalt: a journal of fine and literary arts, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, and August, 2018
“Spider Field,” Vox Populi, 2017
“Frog Song,” Vox Populi, 2017
“Birthday” by Woeser, translated from the Chinese, Invisible Tibet, 2017.
“White Crane” by Woeser, translated from the Chinese, Radio Free Asia, 2017
“Larung” by Woeser, translated from the Chinese, Radio Free Asia, 2017
“The Spider of Yabzhi Taktser,” by Woeser, translated from the Chinese, High Peaks Pure Earth, 2017
“Tonight” by Woeser, translated from the Chinese, Radio Free Asia, 2017
“Rebirth: Dedicated to Liu Xiaobo” by Woeser, translated from the Chinese, Invisible Tibet, 2017
“Flames of the Homeland” by Woeser, translated from the Chinese, Invisible Tibet, 2017
“This Kind of Starlit Night,” Vox Populi, 2016
BOOKS
Roots of Clouds, Transcendence of Stones. Co-authored with Jennifer Boyden and Terry Toedtemeier. Walla Walla, Washington: Donald H. Sheehan Gallery (Whitman College), 2006.
Frank Boyden: Prints and Books. Co-authored with Prudence Roberts. Salem, Oregon: Hallie-Ford Museum of Art, 2006.
Reflections on Forgotten Surfaces: The Calligraphy of Hua Rende. Walla Walla, Washington: Donald H. Sheehan Gallery (Whitman College), 2005.
The Tables of Jupiter: Graphic Work by Timothy C. Ely. Walla Walla, Washington: Donald H. Sheehan Gallery (Whitman College), 2004.
A Carousel at Birth. Ian Boyden and Frank Boyden. Portland, Oregon: Salient Seedling Press, 1997.
The Peripatetic Brush: Four Contemporary Chinese Calligraphers and Their Use of the Past. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University, 1995.
ARTICLES
《激情·想象·创造——一位美国艺术家对中国书法元素的感悟与体验》 “Passion, Imagination, Creativity: An American Artist's Perception of and Experience with Chinese Calligraphy,” in Chinese Calligraphy 《中国书法》, Beijing, April 2012, pg. 104-116.
“道在瓦甓：华人德书作的意象,主题和风格” in 《华人德书法作品集》 (Hua Rende’s Calligraphy Works). Beijing: Renmin Meishu Chubanshe, 2008.
“The Way can be found in bricks and shards: Juxtapositions of image, text and calligraphic style in the work of Hua Rende,” (translated by Mao Qiujin) in Zhongguo Shufa 《中国书法》 (Chinese Calligraphy) 2006: vol. 11, pg. 77-80, Beijing, P.R. China.
“Reflections on Forgotten Surfaces: Hua Rende’s exhibition of calligraphy at Whitman College,” (translated by Mao Qiujin) in Zhongguo Mohen meishu daokan 《中国墨痕美术导刊》 (Ink Marks), 2006: vol. 11, pg. 1, Nanjing, P.R. China.
“Introduction” in Art of Ink in America—2002. Portland, Oregon: Contemporary Crafts Gallery, 2002.
“Discussing Eastern Jin Epitaphs in Conjunction with some Notes on Debates Concerning the Orchid Pavilion,” translation from Chinese, original article《論東晉墓誌兼及兰蘭亭序論辯》by Hua Rende. Early Medieval China 3 (August 1997). Kalamazoo: Western Michigan University.
EXHIBITION PAMPHLETS
“The Bloom of Breath” in Anna Hepler: Bloom. Suyama Space, Seattle, Washington, 2011.
“Chasing Shadows, Becoming Atlas,” in Timothy C. Ely—Line of Sight. Spokane, Washington: Northwest Museum of Art and Culture, 2010.
Field of the Sky. Walla Walla, Washington: Whitman College, 2010.
Echoes of Earth: Landscapes Interpreting Terroir. Walla Walla, Washington: Seven Hills Winery, 2007.
Envoys: Prints by Rick Bartow. Walla Walla, Washington: Whitman College, January 2002.
Amid the Shore Reeds: A Japanese Screen from the Davis Collection. Walla Walla, Washington: Whitman College, January 2001.
Stone Brushes: Three Calligraphers from Suzhou. Portland, Oregon: Contemporary Crafts Gallery, July 2000.
Selected Public Lectures
2015 “'Eradicate the Self' Self-Portrait,” TEDxSanJuanIsland
“Nirvana: Carbon Inks, Burning Forests, and the Buddhist Endgame,” Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT.
2014 “Fragments of Solar Ecology,” Whitman College.
“The Elimination of the Self Self-Portrait,” Eastern Oregon University.
“Avian Flame: Mirror Ecologies of a Mind Consumed; Oregon State University”
“Why a Book? Biblionic Ecologies of Pre-Codex Books,” Walla Walla Public Library.
“Rendering Carbon: The Art of Exploring an Element,” Detroit Museum of New Art, Detroit, MI.
“Avian Flame: Mirror Ecologies of a Mind Consumed,” Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon.
“Sound Boundary: Rethinking the Variables of Observation” Walla Walla University, College Place, Washington.
2013 “Leaping the Whale: Thoughts on Art, Ecology, and Stewardship,” Westwind, Otis, Oregon.
“Mirror/Mirror: On Kissing Ornamental Carp and Other Experiences in China,” Lan Su Chinese Garden, Portland, Oregon.
2012 “Translating Meteorites!” Co-presentation with poet Jennifer Boyden. Sitka Invitational, Forestry Center, Portland, Oregon.
“Immortal Feast: Portraits Consumed by Birds, Bears, and Fish,” Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis, Oregon.
“At Night upon a Carbon Sea: Placing My Painting within the Chinese Context,” Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China.
2011 “The Metamorphosis of Smoke: Histories Embedded in Amorphous Carbon,” Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, China.
“Heavy Book! Implications of Reading Meteoric Iron,” Central College, Pella, Iowa.
“Esoteric Pigments and the Material Imagination,” Willow Gallery, Walla Walla, Washington.
2010 “From Dust to Rust: Reading an Iron Meteorite,” Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington.
“Carbon Trap: From Supernova to the Artist’s Studio,” The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho, Idaho Falls, Idaho.
2009 “Systems & Structures behind the Codex,” Central College, Pella, Iowa.
“Ian Boyden’s Collaborative Books,” Central College, Pella, Iowa.
2008 “Why a Book?” Reed College, Portland, Oregon.
2006 “Invertebrate Scripts,” Willamette University, Salem, Oregon.
2005 “Nepholithos: The Relationship of Clouds and Stones,” Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington.
“The Calligraphy of Hua Rende,” University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
“The Way Can Be Found in Bricks and Shards,” Lan Su Chinese Garden, Portland, Oregon.
Selected Exhibitions Curated/Organized
(Unless noted, the exhibitions listed below were at the Donald H. Sheehan Gallery, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington.) * = accompanied by catalog or pamphlet
2016 Fault Line: Ai Weiwei. San Juan Islands Museum of Art
The Sleep of Reason: Prints by Francisco Goya. San Juan Islands Museum of Art
Dana Lynn Louis: As Above, So Below. San Juan Islands Museum of Art
2007 M168: Works by Geraldine Ondrizek *
The Canary Project: Photographs Documenting Climate Change
2006 Instrument / Implement: Work by Buster Simpson
Roots of Clouds, Transcendence of Stones. Co-curated with Jennifer Boyden and Terry Toedtemeier *
GoatSilk: Ben Bloch and Caroline Peters *
Kyoto Memoirs: Moon, Bridges, and Geisha Along the Kamo River *
2005 Reflections on Forgotten Surfaces: The Calligraphy of Hua Rende *
100 Cheerleaders: Photographs by Susan Seubert *
Faces of the Empire: Photographs from British South Asia
2004 The Tables of Jupiter: Graphic Work by Timothy C. Ely *
The Simple, The Bold, and the Elegant: Tea Spaces in the Yabunouchi Tradition *
Oceans and Elegies: Prints, Paintings, and Books by Diane Fine *
2003 Points of Contact: Shoichi Ida & Robert Kushner
Legends of Rock & Roll: Photographs by Jim Marshall and Andrew Kent
Erratics: Photographs by Charles Katz, Jr. *
Icon and Transformation: (Re)Imaginings in Dongba Art *
Left Standing: Ceramics by Charles Timm-Ballard *
2002 Embroidered Anatomies: Patrick Traer *
Metamorphosis/Web: Yuriko Yamaguchi
Envoys: Prints by Rick Bartow *
Riding the Six-tusked Elephant: Figures from the Davis Collection
Letting Itself be Seen: The Buddha and Octavio Paz *
Disentangled Details: Two Installations by Anna Hepler
2001 Reveries Reversed: Selected Prints from the William and Nell Givler Collection
PRINTSDRAWINGWRITING: Works by Terry Allen
Time Spent With Text: An Installation by Kathy Kuehn
Tom Prochaska: Thirty Years of Graphics
Stone Brushes: Three Calligraphers from Suzhou *
(Contemporary Crafts Gallery, Portland, Oregon)
2000 Taste in Home Decorating: New Paintings by Roberto Juarez
Crosscut Flame: Wood-fired Ceramics from the Jewel Creek Anagama
(stillness): Winifred Lutz
A Conversation: Haniwa Heads from the Davis Collection *
The Poet’s Vitreous Eye: Korean Ceramics from the Crawford Collection
1999 West by Northwest: Photographs by Peter de Lory *
Weegee the Famous: Photographs from the Alan and Ellen Newberg Collection
Chikurakuken: Japanese Tea Room
Seeing Through Photography*
1998 Claudia Bernardi: Traces/Huellas
1995 The Peripatetic Brush: Four Contemporary Chinese Calligraphers and Their Use of the Past, 1995 * (Mansfield Freeman Center, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut)
Public/Corporate Collections
Beijing University, Beijing, P.R. China
Brigham Young University, Salt Lake City, Utah
Carleton College, New York, New York
Chu-Griffis Collection, Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut
Contemporary Crafts Museum, Portland, Oregon
Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
The Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C
Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Salem, Oregon
Harvard-Yenching Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Jin Cheng Media Group, Suzhou, China
The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
Mansfield Freeman Center, Wesleyan University, Connecticut
University of Michigan, Music Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan
New York Public Library, New York, New York
Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon
Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon
Reed College, Portland, Oregon
Seattle Asian Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
Seven Hills Winery, Walla Walla, Washington
Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts
SPEX SamplePrep, Metuchen, New Jersey
Stanford University, Stanford, California
Suzhou University, Suzhou, China
Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China
Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
City of Walla Walla, Washington
Walla Walla Foundry, Walla Walla, Washington
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Selected essays and interviews about my work:
David Axelrod, "Fragile as an Urn: An Interview with Ian Boyden," basalt, May 6, 2018.
Gordon, Melissa, "What Rises from Remains," in Poor Yorick Journal, January 27, 2016.
Gordon, Melissa, "Ian Boyden Transforms 4.5-Billion-Year-Old Meteorite," in Poor Yorick Journal, Octoer 16, 2014.
Ely, Timothy C., "With Forces Older than Our Sun," in basalt literary journal(Vol. 9, No. 1, 2014), pg. 21-23.
Dillon, Mike, "Ian and Jennifer Boyden: At Home in the World," in Walla Walla Lifestyles (July 2014), pg. 23-27.
Bai Qianshen, et al., “An Interview with Ian Boyden,” in Flowing Movement—The Material Imagination of Ian Boyden. Shanghai: Shanghai Wenwu Chubanshe (in collaboration with J.Y. Fine Art and Suzhou Museum), 2012.
Ely, Timothy C., "Embryonic Stars: The Books of Ian Boyden," in Flowing Movement—The Material Imagination of Ian Boyden. Shanghai: Shanghai Wenwu Chubanshe (in collaboration with J.Y. Fine Art and Suzhou Museum), 2012.
Wilson, Mindy, “Percolations of the Void,” in The Georgia Review (Winter 2010).
Musolf, Peter, “The bottle as a mystic portal,” in Walla Walla Lifestyles (November 2010).
Chen, Xiaowei (陈晓维), "Ian Boyden, Chang Ch'ung-ho, Peach Blossom Fish," 《薄英，充和，桃花鱼》online essay on 陈晓维的BLOG(http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_3f51e9190100kapz.html), (July 8, 2010).
Greenwood, Keven, "Ian Boyden: At the Vibrant Epicenter," in Standing on the Shores of Chaos: Dialogs with the Zhuangzi, Salem, Oregon: Willamette University, 2006.
Hunter, Julia, “Ian Boyden's Alchemical Feathers,” in Alchemical Feathers. Walla Walla, Washington: Walla Walla Foundry, 2006.
Toedtemeier, Terry, “On Ian Boyden and ‘Meditations on the Breath of Trees,'” in Meditations on the Breath of Trees. Pendleton, OR: Pendleton Center for the Arts, 2005.
Lamberton, Daniel, “Geographical Blood: Ian Boyden's New Paintings,” in Translations from the Azurite/Mirror Over Tunguska: Paintings by Ian H. Boyden. Co-published by Ochi Fine Art (Ketchum, Idaho) and Augen Gallery (Portland, Oregon) 2005.
Collaborators
I work in collaboration with other writers and artists. Below is a list of some of my collaborators and the projects we worked on together.
QIANSHEN BAI (白謙慎): Qianshen is a scholar of Chinese calligraphy and an accomplished calligrapher and seal carver. In 1995, I included him in an exhibition I curated titled The Peripatetic Brush: Four Contemporary Chinese Calligraphers and Their Use of the Past (Wesleyan University). He contributed the calligraphy for The Field of Aki (2004), an artist book that translated a single poem by Hitomaro. He contributed a wonderful essay to a book that accompanied an exhibition I curated on the contemporary Chinese calligrapher Hua Rende titled Reflections on Forgotten Surfaces: The Calligraphy of Hua Rende (2005). And he curated my solo exhibition Flowing Movement: The Material Imagination of Ian Boyden at the Suzhou Museum (2012).
ALEXIS BERNAUT: Alexis Bernaut is a French poet, translator, and musician, born in Paris, France, in 1977. After serving in the French Navy, he published his first poems in 2009, and has since then been translated into English, Korean, and Hebrew. His first published book of poetry, Au matin suspendu (Suspended in the morning), published in December 2012, includes three long sequences, the first one of which is a meditation on the bizarre passing of Franz Reichelt who, in February 1912, died when a parachute of his own invention failed to open during a test jump from the first floor of the Eiffel Tower. The accident was filmed – probably the first time in history that a man’s death was filmed. Bernaut has since authored Impasse (Dead End) and more poems published in reviews and anthologies in France and internationally. In 2016, he was invited to the Seoul International Writers Festival. He is the translator of US poets Sam Hamill, Jennifer Boyden, and Ian Boyden, and of Trinidadian novelist Earl Lovelace.
WILLIAM BOLCOM: William Bolcom is a composer and pianist. I produced a limited-edition artist book with him called Bird Spirits (Crab Quill Press, 2000). This book included a marvelous suite of handwritten piano scores concerning the spirit of the crow.
FRANK BOYDEN: Frank Boyden is a potter, printmaker, and sculptor. He is also my father and a very good fisherman. Over the years, he and I have collaborated on many projects, including several artist books and exhibition catalogues. In 2006, I contributed an essay titled “Some Observations about Frank Boyden as a Collaborator and Accounts of His Book Projects at Crab Quill Press” to the book Frank Boyden: Prints and Books that accompanied an exhibition by the same title at the Hallie-Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University.
CHANG CH'UNG-HO (張充和, 1914–2015): Chang Ch'ung-ho was one of the most celebrated calligraphers and poets of the late 20th century. She was my teacher for several years. In 1995, I included her in an exhibition I curated titled The Peripatetic Brush: Four Contemporary Chinese Calligraphers and Their Use of the Past (Wesleyan University). In 1998-99, I worked closely with her and her husband, Hans H. Frankel, to translate her poetry, which ultimately became one of my first artist books: Peach Blossom Fish: Selected Poems Composed & Calligraphed by Chang Ch'ung-ho (1999).
CHARLES CHU (朱继荣, 1918–2008): Charles Jirong Chu was a painter, calligrapher, poet, profound teacher, and a really good cook. He and I collaborated on several projects including The Peripatetic Brush: Four Contemporary Chinese Calligraphers and Their Use of the Past (Wesleyan University, 1995), and Twenty Views of Cascade Head (Crab Quill Press, 2001).
DAVID DUNCAN: David Duncan is the author of several fine books including The River Why, The Brothers K, and God Laughs and Plays. He and I (along with Rick Bass, Steve Petit, and Steven Hawley) collaborated to produce The Heart of the Monster (All Against the Haul, 2010), part of a collective action that stopped ExxonMobile and Transcanada from turning the Clearwater and Lochsa rivers into an industrial corridor for transportation of heavy equipment and heavy crude to and from the tar sands of Alberta.
TIMOTHY C. ELY: Timothy C. Ely is a graphic artist and bookmaker. In 2004, I curated a retrospective exhibition of his work titled The Tables of Jupiter: Graphic Work by Timothy C. Ely and produced a catalogue for the exhibition under the same title. In 2005, we began to make collaborative paintings and books. That year, we published the collaborative artist book Near To The Place Where They Should Meet. In 2009, we collaborated on a series of paintings titled Recapitulations of Emptiness that explore a relationship between Zen and particle physics. And in 2010, we produced another body of paintings titled Squaring the Circle.
SAM HAMILL (1943–2018): Sam Hamill was a poet, translator, and a very old soul. Together, he and I produced the artist books Habitations (Crab Quill Press, 2008) and Edible Earth (Crab Quill Press, 2012). I also used his translations of Li Po for my painting series Winecup Meditations (2009). My paintings were featured on the covers of four of his books: Border Songs (Word Palace Press, 2012), Crossing the Yellow River (Tiger Bark Press, 2013), Habitation (Lost Horse Press, 2014), and After Morning Rain (Tiger Bark Press, 2018).
RENDE HUA (華人德): Hua Rende is a calligrapher and scholar of Chinese calligraphy. In 2005, He and I taught two courses together at Whitman College. I curated an exhibition of his calligraphy titled Reflections on Forgotten Surfaces: The Calligraphy of Hua Rende and published a monograph on his work under the same title (Donald H. Sheehan Gallery, 2005). He was instrumental in various exhibitions in China, including Origin and Correspondence (Chengtan, 2011) and Flowing Movement (Suzhou Museum, 2012).
KATHY KUEHN: Kathy Kuehn is a printer and the proprietor of Salient Seedling press. Kathy taught me how to make books and print with a letter press. My first two books, A Carousel at Birth (1997) and A Mischievity of a Craneflies (1998) were both produced with her.
CASEY McCLELLAN: Casey McClellan is a winemaker and the cofounder of Seven Hills Winery in Walla Walla, Washington. I have designed many of the labels for Seven Hills wines. In 2007, I worked extensively with Casey and Kevin Pogue to understand the geology and terroir of Eastern Washington. Ultimately, this lead to the production of an ongoing series of paintings titled Echoes of Earth: Landscapes Interpreting Terroir.
JENNIFER OAKES: Jennifer Oakes is a poet and novelist. Projects together include Twenty Views of Cascade Head (Crab Quill Press, 2001), Convergences (2003), Evidence of Night (Crab Quill Press, 2003), and Roots of Clouds, Transcendence of Stones (Sheehan Gallery, 2006).
TERRY TOEDTEMEIER: Terry Toedtemeier (1947-2008) was a photographer, curator, and essayist. He and I worked on several exhibitions together, most notably Roots of Clouds, Transcendence of Stones (Donald H. Sheehan Gallery, 2005). He also wrote about my painting in Meditations on the Breath of Trees (Pendleton Center for the Arts, 2006).
TSERING WOESER: Woeser is considered one of China's most respected living Tibetan writers. Her poems confront sensitive topics, such as the wave of self-immolation that has swept through Tibetan society in the last decade, and the destruction of Larung Gar, the largest Buddhist academy in the world. She was honored with a 2010 Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women's Media Foundation, as well as an International Women of Courage Award by the U.S. State Department. I translate her poetry, and she and I are currently working on several projects together involving poetry and photography.