Papercut Heart: A Book of Zines

Ian Sullivan Cant’s zines / illustrated poems are collected here into his first book, Papercut Heart. In deceptively simple pages, he tackles love, death and dreams with a wistful existentialism. Chia pets frolic with narwhals under banners that flutter with secret hope, Frankenstein’s creation speculates on the nature of self, and a story written entirely in Morse Code weaves through silent statuary. Cant’s writing confronts the tragic disparity between fantasy and ideal, and the disappointment of reality, but always seeks to touch the reader with melancholy. His obsession with B–horror movies allows him to find the beauty in trash culture, either in the form of a hidden and subversive genius, or the tenderness and vulnerability of unskilled creative passion. Cant’s instruction in zen poetry is evident in his clean, delicate linework which belies the depth of his sentiments. Ruminations on the temporal nature of all things are thrown into stark relief by the accompanying drawing, be it a cupcake, a matchbook, or the image of a lost love, and many, many, talking ravens.