The Sunday Paper #246
February 10, 2019

Paper of the Week: Risographed Prints by Kelli Anderson

Kelli Anderson, author This Book is a Planetarium, shares some of her genius with us again in a sheet of printed and scored paper. She’s created a folder of pre-scored auxetic folding patterns (yup, I had to look that up too: structures or materials that when stretched, become thicker perpendicular to the applied force).

The prints are tucked into a custom folder made by Talas book binding supply, and the folds are adapted from the miura-ori fold, which is used in surgical devices, foldable furniture and satellites. I’ve ordered a set of the posters ($19 + shipping) and will let you know IF and when I succeed in folding them. IMHO, these folds are tricky, but Kelli has some instructional videos to guide us!
And if you’re geeking out over this as I did, follow these links down the rabbit hole… Here’s Kelli’s blog post about Folding as Craft Tech filled with fascinating links about paper folding + technology, and her current course called Code Paper Scissors at the School For Poetic Computation.

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In the Studio:
I have a new watermark on the mould, and I’m making this honeycomb paper in a variety of colors for my upcoming online paper sale – stay tuned.

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This looks like an amazing show at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Pakistani-American artist Ambreen Butt reimagines traditional Indian and Persian miniature painting to feature contemporary female protagonists and political subject matter. While the intricate details of her works on paper invite close looking and discovery, her content tackles larger global issues of oppression, violence, and the role of art as social commentary.

© Ambreen Butt, Pages of Deception, 2012; Diptych drawing with torn and collaged text, 70 1/2″ x 45″

Doesn’t this look real? Look again! Chie Hitotsuyama skillfully binds rolled and twisted pieces of wet newspaper to each other. By varying the thickness and contours of the paper, she is able to precisely produce any figure she desires—from an animated little monkey to a resting rhinoceros. Be sure to click through to see more of her sculpture.

Check out this amazing work by Troy Dugas who creates his canvases from shredded vintage ledger paper, forms, and receipts (as well as other types of paper).

Balancing Act Radial Form #3, acrylic, colored pencil, graphite, vintage ledger paper, forms, receipts on paper, 72″ x 72″

I’ve never heard of the endangered art called dragon scale bookbinding, but Chinese artist Zhang Xiaodong (who decided to research and revive it) layers hundreds of sheets of thin paper on top of one another until they form a complete and impeccable image. When the chapters of his elaborate books are unfolded, the pages move like the bellows of an accordion. It seems a bit like European foredge painting.

“Diamond Sutra” (2017) by Zhang Xiaodong. Credit: Courtesy of Sin Sin Fine Art

I’m wishing you all a wonderful Valentine’s Day this week! I stumbled across some heart-shaped Junior Mints for my hubby at Paper Source last weekend. And here are some woven valentines from my Weave Through Winter online class. This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of their paper weaving feats! I’ll be sharing more soon.

 

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