Jen Karetnick
(January, 2024)
UK Artist Helen Ahpornsiri is an Illustrator based in East Sussex, UK. Ahpornsiri creates captivating artworks by delicately pressing flowers and plants.
Ahpornsiri gathers botanical specimens from her own garden, meticulously arranging the dried materials into complex, multilayered designs. All of her designs are made using only real pressed flowers, petals, seaweed, stems, and leaves.
Her construction “Whale Shark” features on the cover of Jen Karetnick’s upcoming book, Inheritance with a High Error Rate, due from Cider Press Review in January, 2024. Inheritance with a High Error Rate won the 2022 CPR Book Award, selected by Lauran Camp.
Helen Ahpornsiri works with a variety of flora, preferring fern and wildflower species. “Flowers commonly considered weeds are unassuming yet familiar. They can be embued in folk tales and personal connotations which resonate with people in different ways. I’m interested in the idea of preserving plants like these and giving them a new narrative.”
She also forages for some plants and seaweed: “If foraging from the wild, I follow the BSBI code of conduct. I only collect small specimens from abundant species, being careful to cause as little disturbance to the environment as possible.”
Some of Ahpornsiri’s work has been collected into hardbound books, A Year In The Wild (2018) and Beneath the Waves (2019). Both are also available in children’s versions for 6-9 year olds. Other works are available as cards, crafted notebooks, and other stationary.
Inheritance with a High Error Rate is available for pre-order in the CPR Bookstore. Books will be available in January, 2024.
