False calm

False calm (2024). Inkjet on botanical contact prints by Velma Bolyard, hanji, cotton/abaca paper, thread. 5.1 x 4.1 x 0.5” closed, 12.5” wide open. One of a kind. BIMA Cynthia Sears Collection.

Aimee printed the text she wrote via inkjet onto Velma Bolyard’s botanical contact prints. Endsheets are hanji made from ‘waste’ fibers of paper mulberry bast. Aimee made the covers from abaca and cotton, colored with a mix of aqueous dispersed and dry pigments. Special thanks to somatic therapists who work with PTSD clients.

False calm

The slightest thing,
always unexpected

easily sets the body
into a panic

you forget to breathe

you forget

you CAN breathe

any memory of equilibrium

it all disappears

into a pant
a clammy sweat
a racing heart

pant pant pant
cold sweat
frenzied heart

you disappear

Why does this feel so familiar?
and terrible?

As fast as the storm arrived

you remember to breathe.

once you return
to yourself

you remember,

it’s over.

It’s over.