The Mystery of Five originated with the terrifying images that came out of Abu Ghraib during the Iraq War. In making them, I considered the alchemical forces in the human mind that transmute suffering into a state of grace. I examine that alchemy in a poem printed on the back of the book that delineates the familiar mysteries of creation and destruction, and the revelation that occurs when the source of the mysteries is revealed. The book’s images are presented as a triptych in which three figures arrange themselves as dancers. A display cloth of hand-stitched raw silk, and two vintage skeleton keys hint at an unlocking of the mysteries. This book is limited to ten copies in a variable edition, signed, dated and numbered. Each book differs from the others in the selection of the three drawings. Seven copies are available.

The Mystery of Five is held in Special Collections and Archives at Bowdoin College and at the University of Kentucky’s Margaret I. King Library.

Images courtesy of Dave Clough Photography

Hear a reading of the poem on the verso of the triptych.