Book of 19 Nocturnes is a 500-page, inter-genre epic, two decades in the making. Defying easy categorization, it blends elements of graphic novels, illustrated fairy tales, dream diaries, field journals, and prose poetry. Akin to an illuminated manuscript or a grimoire—a magical book—it is meant to be read over the course of 19 nights. Each chapter features exquisite ink paintings and graphite drawings, created by the artist/author Jim Holyoak during his travels in Scandinavia, British Columbia, and the Himalayas. The phantasmagoric story unfolds with dream-like logic, set in a mountainous, forested realm where the sun never rises. The protagonist, a woman made of wood named Book, befriends wandering monsters as she navigates a lonely, labyrinthine world. The book’s 19 chapters contain reproductions of graphite drawings, watercolours, ink-paintings, and collaged text, most of which were developed while Holyoak travelled (often trekking) throughout Scandinavia, British Columbia and the Himalayas.

“A tentative, uncertain, and vaguely autobiographical odyssey, Book of 19 Nocturnes tells a story of wandering, a search for belonging, that ultimately results in the discovery of one’s own very intimate otherness. At the intersection of Lewis Caroll, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Guillermo del Toro, this travel narrative draws heterogenous, aeonic memories of Earth’s deep time into a monstrous, supernatural and dreamlike universe. As in a post-humanist dream, trees show off their capacity for reason, sensitive matter mingles with the living, species fuse into complex hybrids that defy classification. In the form of a tale, Holyoak reveals a twilight world where ‘reality,’ merging with dreams and diverging from appearances, becomes a fleeting concept, intelligible only through a differed or displaced gaze. In this sense, Book of 19 Nocturnes echoes a long line of philosophical interrogations of the real, whether the latter be cosmic, quantum, or metaphysical.” – Gentiane Bélanger, Art historian and director/curator of Foreman Art Gallery at Bishop’s University

“What a journey. Epic in scale and ambition. It conjures an intense and emotional spell. It’s also a grand love letter to the misfits, the monsters, the outcasts. It reminds us that the world is wondrous because of the diversity of the living things that inhabit it, and that this diversity is largely defined by the outliers, the weirdos, and the one-offs at its edges. Book’s story reads as a journey of self-realization about the fact that being different is, in many ways, a more vibrant form of existence than for those who have never had to search for where they belong. A powerful, elegiac work.” – Henry Lien, author of ‘Peasprout Chen: Future Legend of Skate and Sword’

“What sets Holyoak’s work apart from many other contemporary artists’ books is the meticulous craftsmanship with which it’s created: hundreds of pages, entirely handmade, drawn, and written with dedication and exceptional attention to detail. This approach brings Book of 19 Nocturnes close to the works of William Blake. It’s easy to get lost in this dreamlike world of chthonic entities. Naturally, it tells a story of searching for one’s place in the world. Among the universal literary themes described by Jorge Luis Borges, the theme of the search most closely aligns with the essence of artistic process—the wonderings and explorations through which artists often find their hidden, suppressed, or long-lost identities. In Holyoak’s case, this identity is astonishingly romantic, infused with a love for the supernatural and inhuman life. As he tells the story of Book, the heroine in search of herself, the artist’s love and affection for each character become evident, shining through the dark, gothic imagery. This love is in the details—in the way he accepts and carefully portrays even the most peculiar lifeforms. After all, this is a dark fairy tale, and only empathetic people tell such stories, which require rich imagination and openness to the unknown to be told without falling into violence and misanthropy.” – Egor Buimister, artist and writer, BLOOME Magazin

Jim Holyoak’s art practice consists primarily of drawing, writing and ink-painting, artists’ books and room-sized drawing installations. Drawing is Holyoak’s way of contemplating the tensions between the real and unreal, human and nonhuman beings, travel and transformation, invisible and speculative worlds. He received a BFA from the University of Victoria, an MFA from Concordia University, and studied under master ink-painter Shen Ling Xiang, in Yangshuo, China. In parallel to his solo practice, Holyoak has orchestrated numerous collaborative drawing projects, often with fellow artist Matt Shane, and sometimes involving hundreds of people drawing together. His work has circulated widely in North America and Europe, including at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, La biennale de Québec, Tegnerforbundet (Drawing Association) in Oslo, KM21 in The Hague, the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art in Rīga, the Carnegie Mellon International Drawing Symposium in Pittsburgh, the Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham, UK, and the Teckningsmuseet (Museum of Drawings) in Sweden. Holyoak has attended artist residencies in New York, Los Angeles, Mumbai, The Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, and throughout Norway. Holyoak presently lives in the town of Nelson, in the Selkirk mountains of British Columbia, on the unceded territory of the sn̓ʕay̓ckstx Sinixt Arrow Lakes peoples, from where he teaches remotely at Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

Jim has received support from The British Columbia Arts Council, The Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des Lettres du Quebec.