Fairy Kings Grimoire
During my Artist Research Fellowship with the Folger, I am creating The Fairy King’s Grimoire: a reimagining of the magic and rituals outlined in Manuscript V.b.26, The Book of Magic with instructions for invoking spirits, etc. while considering needs and beliefs of queer people today. This book presents Oberon (spelled Oberyon) the Fairy King, a central figure that links this manuscript to literary and theatre culture including many of Shakespeare’s works.
The Fairy King’s Grimoire consists of pages printed on leaves and paper using solar reactive processes. I source my leaves from morning glory that grows up an ivy-covered wall of my house, plants from my mother’s garden, and other Baltimore City gardens. To charge the paper, I left it outside to be soaked in the rain and charged under the moon. The book is a spell in of itself, composed of images pulled from Manuscript V.b.26 along with other magical content from the Folger’s collection and a collection of vintage gay porn my neighbor gave me after she discovered it in her late uncle’s treasure trove of an antique store in Baltimore.