Paper Works
Juried by Julia Halperin
Curatorial Statement
In the art world, paper is often treated like a middle child—it’s underestimated and overlooked. But the material is one of the most versatile ones we have. As the works assembled here show, paper is far more than a tool for preparatory sketches. It can be the main event.
The artists included in this show use paper as raw material for sculpture and other three-dimensional works; they use it to document the everyday; they use it to explore unique cultural histories; and they use it as a means to imagine beautiful, sometimes monumental worlds.
Historians disagree about the origins of paper, but many say it dates back to 200 BCE in China, where it was first used to wrap and preserve tea. From the very beginning, then, paper was used not only to record and retain, but also to make and assemble something new.
In this digital age, we touch paper less and less often. We read books on a Kindle, we write lists on our iPhone notes app, we use credit cards and Venmo instead of paper money. The artists whose works are assembled here remind us of paper’s tactile qualities, its versatility, as well as the distinct role it plays in countries ranging from Korea to Mexico. Allow them to take you on an adventure.
Wall 1: Paper as a Sculpture
Damien Berdichevsky, Tina Marcus, Hyeyoung Shin, and Matthew Carlson transform various kinds of paper—from cardboard to outdated Encyclopedia Britannicas—into three-dimensional sculpture.
Wall 2: Paper Off the Wall
By folding, gluing, cutting, layering, and shredding, these artists transform paper into a raw material they use to make art that extends off the wall. Megan Klim, Orli Swergold, and Paul Brandwein build up their works with fragments of paper, while Diana Vidal evokes the fallibility of memory by folding and Deborah Perlman slices paper to construct imagined architecture.
Wall 3: Paper as Process
Each of these artists embeds action—or its aftermath—in their work. Kimberlyn Bloise uses porcelain coating to capture newsprint in motion, Katharine DeLamater uses handmade hemp paper to create what looks like a wrung-out dish towel hanging from the wall, and Kathleen Greco leaves behind what looks like remnants of an excavation.
Wall 4: Paper as Product
These artists elevate into art the types of paper that we use without much thought: packing material and cardboard boxes in the case of Joy Broom and xerox paper in the work of Samir Nahas. Meanwhile, Diana Baumbach creates handmade paper from used onesies in First and Last and Kerri Warner assembles a portrait from book pages and wrapping paper.
Wall 5: Paper as a Site of Dreams
There is something about the intimacy of paper that makes it an ideal window into interior, imagined worlds. Kelly Asbury creates gauzy abstractions, Audineh Asaf captures the beauty of Queens as if in a dream, and Amelie Mancini builds elaborate spaces and scenes with watercolor.
Wall 6: Paper as a Document of the Everyday
Each of these artists offers us a glimpse into everyday characters and moments. There are the quiet, domestic scenes, like Jhih Yu Chen’s Taiwanese rice cooker and Dawn Hunter’s daughter asleep, as well as more spirited character studies, from Sharon Harper’s imposing figures to Billy Hawkins’s riotous mixed media interiors.
Wall 7: Paper as Ambition
Paper isn’t always thought of as a tool for ambitious or monumental works—but it should be. Gabriel Feld transforms post-it notes into geometric murals, Elizabeth Livensperger and Samantha Modder create engulfing scenes that tumble off the wall and onto the floor, and Nina Temple renders monumental ink collages. Mary Porterfield employs repetition to overwhelming effect, while Debra Collins creates a nine-foot portrait of her church community out of cut index cards.
Wall 8: Paper That Tells a Story
There are as many different kinds of paper as there are art forms, and each has a unique cultural history and significance. Vincent Hawley’s paper was used to make shoe soles in an American boot factory; Anna Soper uses end paper from discarded library books. Karla Kantrovich’s work draws on the ancestral Mexican Amate paper-making process, while Cathy Abbott engages in the Korean ritual of Joomchi with Hanji paper and Robert Martinez creates moving portraits of Arapaho Elders on 1919 Owl Creek Mine ledger paper.
Wall 9: Paper Collage
Collage has a long history stretching back to the origins of Modernism, but each of these artists—Jim Zver, Dana Caldera, and Reinaldo Egusquiza—gives the form a contemporary twist of their own.