Personal Visions: The Passion of Paper (2006)
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Five Red Sisters, 2004 |
Summer Rain, 2002 |
Untitled (Garden Afterimage Series), 2005 |
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Spring Tulips, 2002 |
Summer 2, 2006 |
Sunset 1, 2006 |
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Very Early Morning, 2006 |
Winter, 2006 |
Autumn, 2006 |
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Untitled (Garden Afterimage Series), 2005 |
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Artist's Statement One of the pivotal moments of my life was when I saw paper pulp being used as a painting medium. The amazement which I experienced then still pulls me back into the studio again and again. The process is just unpredictable enough that it is a constant challenge. It demands a partnership with the practitioner, eliciting give and take, requiring a fine balance. The alterations which occur from the time of making to the completion of the drying cycle are dramatic enough that this too adds to the element of chance. Finally, the finished work is unlike other more traditional painting techniques as the material and the image are so inextricably visually intertwined. I am still enamoured. |
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Folio Series: Nature Study #8 |
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| "No two seasons ..." |
Semblance #3 |
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Artist's Statement
For several years my work in fibre has concentrated on the membrane of the "page" as an expressive form. As a medium, papermaking attracts me because of the congruity between the material aspects of the process and human physical concerns: wetness,
pressure, thickening, dessication - the paper undergoes these
successive conditions. Responding to nature and circumstance, the sheet of paper embodies experience, as we do. The ability of flax pulp in particular to develop high rates of shrinkage, translucency, and surface texture makes possible a language that can speak of the effects of time and change.
At the same time, paper is culturally linked to ideas, language, and communication, crucial features of our humanity. I have often used the familiar layout of the folio -- two facing pages -- as a suggestive format for several series of paper works concerning our desire to document and describe. My work explores implications of embedding image and language within the paper, to give the "narrative" a material presence. In earlier work the body and the codex form have been important. In recent pieces, I have given greater priority to text, allowing words to form the entire structure. Here, the shapes and patterns of individual letters, words, and phrases dictate the physical form
of the "page" when inscribed in high shrinkage pulps. The result is a fretwork of language which
casts its shadow on the supporting wall.
This approach emerged from several overlapping areas of interest: in narrative as a kind of personal mapping; in the possibilities of language as physical form; and in paper as the substance rather than the traditional substrate of a work of art. My objective with this work was to explore the space between literal meaning and physical presence, to generate new forms from the shapes, rhythms,
and meanings of language as it encounters the physical nature of paper pulp.
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Universe, 2006 Altered book: one copy of Life Nature Library series The Universe cut and folded into Froebel stars and placed in shiho chitsu box (book board, Kingin paper, black and white pages from the original book, polyester grosgrain ribbon) 16 x 23.5 x 9 cm (closed) This work deconstructs an existing book and turns it into a new set of structures that still reflect the original content. |
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| Pyramid Scheme, 2002 Set of six gift boxes: handmade card stock containing
horse manure, recycled paper, and dried flowers (orchid, delphinium,
safflower), original package design This set of boxes was an exercise in taking a “waste” material and converting it into something elegant and useful. |
The Elephant’s Child, 2004 Palm leaf book: book board, handmade paper (recycled paper, cattail fibre) laminated and transfer printed with a personal variation of half uncial alphabet, found button, braided linen cord. I chose the binding style as one appropriate to the subject matter. Since I don’t have access to palm leaves, I selected cattails for the handmade paper, to suit the story. |
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Artist's Statement I have had a lifelong fascination with paper. I enjoy not only making
it, but 'playing' with it to created unusual 3-dimensional structures. I
consider to be not just a support material for other process, but an
interesting thing in itself. The sculptural possibilities appear to be
limitless. |
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1944094-R1-025-11 The paper is handmade by me and is composed of a olive and gold tinted paper combined with abaca fibres. The text has been stencilled (one letter at a time) directly onto the paper. The images are done with pastel and conte, and are not done directly onto the paper but are supported on a vellum finish paper the same colour as the handmade and affixed to the handmade paper. The dimensions of the book are 6 inches by 27 inches (open). The book was made in an edition of five. A copy of this book also appeared in The Passionate Book exhibition. |
1944094-R1-031-14 A soft cover hand-sewn book with a print on an open right-hand page This book is called Watching You Sleep, and was published by me (Seawrack Press) in 1991. The paper is handmade (mine) and is made from abaca and cedar bark fibres. Dimensions of the book are 7 inches by 11 inches (closed). The book is ten pages in length. The text of the poem has been set (by me) in 14 point Kennerly Roman type,over three pages. On three of the pages are etchings, one per page. The binding is concertina fold, with rice paste adhesive. An edition of 30 was made. Copies of this book were in a book exhibition in Halifax in 2001, and also in the Artist Book Exhibition of NorthWest Bookfest in Seattle in October 2001. |
1944094-R1-023-10 A white accordion-fold book starting with “in the morning a woodpecker drumming.” This is one of three different versions of an accordian fold book published in 2004 called "Gifts." The paper is handmade and is composed of abaca and yellow silk fibres. The text has been stencilled directly onto the paper. The images are chine colle aquatints (etchings) with Japanese papers (hadaura, kozo, and others). Dimensions of the book are 6 inches by 17 inches (open). The book was produced in an edition of 5. A copy of this book appeared in an exhibition titiled The Passionate Book in Vancouver in October 2004 at the Canadian Crafthouse on Granville Island. |
Artist's Statement What do I love about making paper? The mystery, the alchemy, the long and meandering process of selecting various fibres which relate to the text and images that the paper will eventually support; wondering how the fibres will interact with each other; thinking about the colours that the final sheets of paper may be; delighting in the soft muted tones that come from working with the natural fibres and dyes I've chosen, such as fine yellow silk threads, cedar and cherry barks, wisteria fibre, and dyes from various found lichens of the British Columbia coast. |
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Found, 2006 Edition of twenty Cover: oil paint on modeling paste on board End sheet: serigraph image of a bandaged hand. Text: gocco print and pochoir on dyed and waxed handmade paper and transparent paper. |
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 | Dream Camera, 2006 The largest tunnel book I've made yet. Four interior panels layered with dream images. The push/pull of whimsy and free fall. |
Honey Bee Dance, 2005 Mixed Media Print edition of 25 Serigraph on B F K paper with etching on Abaca handmade paper and hand sewn leaf paper. First in series of prints dealing with the language of bees. |
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Artist's Statement I come to bookarts from a textile and printmaking background. I make paper as a support for a narrative medium; drawing, stitching, text or printmaking. Sometimes the paper is the story. Papermaking is physical and tactile; pleasurable labour which produces a profound satisfaction. |
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