3-D paper: Sculptural Paper making

My second course for the new century was my second workshop at Carriage House, the wonderful paper making studio in Brooklyn. 3-D paper: Sculptural Paper making Feb. 5-6. 2000, taught by Shannon Brock, introduced the 8 female participants to the possibilities of paper on armatures of wire mesh , stockings covering plastic and vermiculite, and soldered wire structures.

We worked primarily with Flax H (dark) and Flax R (light) beaten for 8 hours Though I played with some blue dyed abaca. I was intrigued by everyone's explorations. My work mates created cradles of grapevine or branches and wire mesh to hold the pulp, arching sewn fabric cones whose e paper skin was adorned with coils and other embellishments. Others had shelves or lattice work of mesh and dowels, or gourd, undulating shapes of fabric. Sadly, we did not get to see the result.

The most finished was a double igloo or biosphere structure using neatly applied sheets of the light colored flax over hemispheres of soldered wire created by the young woman who journeyed with her friend all the way from Ireland to attend the workshop. Most other participants were from places closer: Georgia, the Finger Lakes, New Jersey and across the street.

We poured pulp over the wire mesh in some armatures. We made sheets, that we pressed or didn't to then cut or tear to apply to other armatures.

I got to use the most exquisite mould I ever beheld and realized I had read about it in a Lee Scott McDonald catalog....with a beveled deckle, beautiful brass fittings, a laid metal screen supported.... and what a difference the hydraulic press made as well as Shannon's adjustment to my sheet forming technique..... that throwing the wave was for Japanese Papermaking and for western style, it was a shifting jiggle on the same plane..... and suddenly couching was a breeze.....plus I'll never again dab the sponge to the back of a mould again..... water is your friend.

Day one was structure/armature Creation, Day two was paper covering. We had a pulp spraying demo.

I stitched two wire shield shapes together with wire to form a pillow that I stuffed with plastic/foam packing nuggets, leaving tow openings for their later removal. This was hung upside down and I covered it with Flax R. I made a teepee or spirit house form of branches, but I didn't get to pull the extra large sheets it required. I made crown/boat shapes out of the larger gauge wire mesh on which I poured blue dyed abaca and flax-H and I made a shaped stocking filled with vermiculite that I covered with the Flax-H.

We went to a marvelous opening for Local Papers, Group Exhibit, 2nd Floor Main Gallery of the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center and what exquisite timing to see 3-D Paper art on display after the first day of class Donna Koretsky's signature paper "rocks" and phallic lit tower, Zelda Tanenbaum's paper quilt with exquisite embossing and moving story (part of her project included teaching the elderly to make paper), the trio of leaning person-size tufted structures by Setsuko Hasegawa and body molds by Vernita N'Cognita and the participatory piece by Rumiko Tsuda and Daniel Georges where folks got to mark a piece of paper and attach it to the sculpture---- were my favorites.

Equally striking was the installation that included a woven paper quilt on top of bed springs on top of balled newspaper on top of cardboard with photos/photo transfers of faces of people who may have been homeless. This also included a shopping cart full of debris/junk or typical homeless possessions punctuated with what I took to be real shelter voucher cards.

We dashed across the Williamsburg Bridge to SoHo to the opening of Walking in the Mountains at Dieu Donne.

I found a new bead district--- Broadway in the 20s which is also an area to get name brand perfume less expensively than nearly anywhere else. I've added to my exquisite meal experience at the Sugar Bar, 72nd between Broadway and West End Ave and reaffirmed my love of Cafe Reggio, where I had my first cappuccino 30 years ago and had a great lunch at Tomato 20-something and 5th (?) and the many epiphanies the City always grants me, like running into the wonderful black actress from China Beach in the subway and giving her a copy of my book, by way of thanks for the inspiration, the sweet and moving buskers singing soulfully underground, the delicious Thai food at Amarin and the neighborhood Polish bakery whose fruit tart transformed the tiny hotel room into a paradise of delectable rest and respite.     



|Akua's Homepage|SHIELD|Creators Links|Poems at this Site||Papier Maché and Hand Papermaking|ArtFarm Press|