What does an oracle look like? gathers essays and drawings made by Perri MacKenzie between 2020 and 2024, themed loosely around pottery painting and vocal expression. The drawings, rendered in splashy India ink and collage, range from expressive sketches to theatrical still lives and experimental bandes dessinées.

‘In Perri's firm prose, voices resonate from ceramic amphorae, studio speakers, Claire Danes, and the occasional butt-cheek on the move. Her book excavates the living voice from its material remains, an archaeological miracle.’ 

– Becket MWN, artist and writer, Amsterdam.

‘What does an oracle look like? is an inquiry, a celebration and an open invitation to engage with Perri’s ‘oracular method’ ... I received it as a whole new manual for how to heed, translate and retranslate the messages and materials of the world.’ 

– Kate Briggs, essayist and translator, Rotterdam

Texts and images: Perri MacKenzie

Design: Ilke Gers

Offset edition of 400, printed by robstolk

96 pages, orange cover with B/W illustrations

Leaky Press, 2025.

Price: €25

Available at rile*, books at, and directly through Leaky Press.
Interview with Michaela Schweighofer
PDF Excerpt