Rocketship, an edition of five accordion-fold books celebrating the old romance and future shape of the Space Race with retro-style applique and embroidered sci-fi rocketships on painted linen, original text gel-transferred onto cotton, glass bead accents, and Swarovski crystal accents. Covers are woodburned and painted cedar with faux-lapis blue glass bead accents.

Previous to the Soviet launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, the American psyche had consigned space exploration to pulp science fiction and fantasy tales. The Space Race forced the Unites States to focus on scientific advancements to solve the problem of ‘Who gets to the Moon first?’ Science, mathematics, and engineering pioneered in that contest shaped the world’s technologies and even cultural shifts, while bringing the romance of space into public awareness.

Text: ‘Rocketship: The Future Hope of Ages Past’, ‘Race to the Moon, Survey the Stars, Renew the Earth, Scout New Worlds’. The main text panels outline separate aspects of space exploration, from the relatively-simple Moon landing contest to global climate tracking and pushing our understanding of cosmology.