Illustrator Kirstjana Williams' Victorian 'mashups'

As part of the recent London Design Festival, Outline Editions ran a unique experiment in collaboration with Shapero Rare Books. Outline sells high-quality, limited-edition prints from a variety of British artists, but in this case it's casting its net further and featuring the work of Icelandic-born illustrator Kristjana S.Williams, who lives and works in London.

For her latest exhibition Anachroquarianism, Williams created a series of prints inspired by engravings by some of the most famous 19th-century natural history illustrators. "When we started to exhibit illustrations by Kristjana Williams, we realised there was a very clear connection between her art and the amazing engraivings that Shapero has in his collection," says Camilla Parsons, director at Outline. "Kristjana uses just such botanical and ornithological material to build up thousands of layers of collage in her work, juxtaposing the old with her own contemporary illustrations."

They began to discuss showcasing Williams' Victorian-inspired 'mash ups' alongside historical illustrators such as John Gould, Joseph Wolf and Edward Lear. "Kirstjana was thrilled at the idea of using some of the Shapero collection as source material for the show - including some vase etchings by the 18th-century Italian master Giovanni Battista Piranesi and exotic bird engravings by Lear," Parsons continues.

The Anachroquarianism exhibition is no longer running but Williams' limited edition prints can still be bought online.

This showcase was originally published in Computer Arts issue 205.

Like this? Read these!

• 75 awesome illustration tutorials
• 5 stunning examples of illustration