a collaborative artist book made with Dagny Rayn Chika

edition of 5 pairs, 2026

shell, fog, inhale, coil is an editioned pair of two artist books, created in collaboration by two SAIC Fiber and Material Studies alumni, Kately Towsley and Dagny Rayn Chika. Over the course of the Winter 2026 SAIC India Study Trip, Towsley and Chika traveled through Mumbai, Kochi, Jaipur, and Varanasi, India. Each day, they individually chose one word to encapsulate their experiences, and then responded to each other’s chosen words. Each book is a collection of poetic responses, textile artifacts, found ephemera, and illustrations, all handbound in cloth covers. 

(materials: red cloth covers, gifted by Kriti Gallery; mud-resist indigo-dyed cotton cloth, dyed by Dagny at Nila House in Jaipur; handmade indigo paper, from Nila House in Jaipur; bridge stitch, taught to artists by seamstress in Varanasi; banana leaves, from a meal shared in Mumbai; gold zari thread, from Varanasi; a smudge of mud, from outside Kately’s studio in Chicago; shells, from the shores of Kochi; glass beads, from Varanasi)

An edition of this book pair can be read, handled, and visited in-person at the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection in Chicago.