He Had a Hat

This book was produced after the artist discovered that, as he was looking back at the many photographs of people wearing hats that he had collected and that had appeared as a striking motif in his past works, he had unconsciously been superimposing the image of his father from his memories onto those photographs. These hidden memories are expressed through the stories of fictional characters.

"He Had a Hat is an artist's book in which hidden personal memories resurface through the stories of fictional characters. The texts are excerpts from three stories by the Irish novelist Samuel Beckett: "The Expelled," "First Love," and "Molloy," and are written in English and Russian. I also drew directly on the photographs to highlight images that fit my personal experience of being fatherless. In order to avoid directly talking about the background, I used the power of drawings, which resemble the scribbles a child might make in a book, to encrypt the original meaning." - Julia Borissova

Hand-bound, limited to 25 copies. Comes with a rope that can be attached to a hat. Signed and numbered by the artist.

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Title: He Had a Hat
Artist: Julia Borissova
Self-published, 2021
Softcover book with a rope, hand-sewn
203 x 154 x 15 mm
68 pages
Text in English and Russian
Limited edition of 25 copies, signed and numbered by the artist