Pulp to Print: Techniques and Transformations in Handmade Paper

Bridget O’Malley. Venus Flytrap. 2005

Pulp to Print highlights the many artistic possibilities handmade paper offers. The exhibition includes a selection of outstanding works by leading paper artists created specifically for Hand Papermaking, Inc., a national non-profit organization dedicated to the ongoing development of artistic papermaking since 1986. The artists made use of all types of fabrics and vegetable matter in the composition of their pulp and developed inventive techniques in the processing and finishing of their handmade sheets. Whether investigating the concept of negative space in handmade paper, or exploring the unusual and creative interactions between fibers, the represented paper artists create works that share boundaries between the traditional and the experimental. Also featured in the exhibit are works by well-known paper and book artist, Helen Hiebert who uses her handmade paper to create unique artists’ books that explore watermarking techniques and the interplay of geometry and light. Carolee Campbell, founder of Ninja Press, transforms handmade paper into some of the finest artists’ books found in the contemporary book arts scene. Her iconic work The Real World of Manuel Córdova, printed on a persimmon-washed and smoked handmade paper, extends nearly nine feet across three display cases. Rounding out the exhibit are poetry broadsides made of handmade paper, and artists’ books that address different but overlapping aspects of papermaking—the use of natural dyes on handmade paper from around the world, experiments in paper investigating the use of invasive plant species, samples of paste paper and other decorative paper specimens in bookbinding ephemera, and the history of Japanese papermaking.