Fifty Years Inside an Artist's Mind: The Journal of Athena Tacha

Athena Tacha's Journal continues to a long tradition of artists' letters, diaries, and journals – from Ghiberti, Leonardo, Cellini, Delacroix, and Van Gogh to Smithson and Oldenburg -- that record reflections on the natural world and the artists' creations. Written with unflinching candor and handsomely illustrated, Tacha's Journal will be of interest to everyone engaged with contemporary art, the intersection between art and science, and the critical thinking and formation of artists.

In this illustrated Journal edited and annotated by art historian Richard Spear, artist Athena Tacha reveals how nature inspired her art as she read avidly about all aspects of the universe, from microbes to black holes, in an effort "to discover the formal laws of the universe that underlie all aspects of nature" and to incorporate that understanding into her work. This Journal follows her fifty-year journey into the frontiers of science and offers as well witty, astute observations on life -- from toenails, bowels and sex to aging, from plants and birds to camels – along with vividly evocative notes on her worldwide travels.