The Sunday Paper #532

November 17, 2024

I had the pleasure of interviewing Shanna Leino on Paper Talk. Leino is a studio artist with a fascination for the many forms of the book. After eight years in beautiful Frankfort, Michigan, she has returned to her home state of New Hampshire. She works in her studio, manufactures a small line of hand tools for bookbinders and craftspeople, and travels throughout the U.S. and occasionally abroad, teaching book and toolmaking workshops.

I share this sentiment of hers:

“The thrill of working, for me, is the process of discovery and

problem solving that comes with making something for the first time.”

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If you are in Brooklyn, check out CARVALHO PARK’s new exhibition, Gospel of Three Dimensions, introducing the work of Japanese-American sculptor, Mika Obayashi, through a site-responsive installation in the gallery’s 110 Waterbury St. space. Suspended through cotton string, hundreds of handmade sheets of fibrous abaca paper float between floor and ceiling in a delicate, drifting gradient of dark to light indigo. Obayashi invites viewers into this airy, floating matrix, which appears to swell skyward, filtering light through its stratifications like sunlight dappling through trees. I hope that someone who reads this gets to experience this work! On view through January 4, 2025.

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I love this! This fall, Artist Ellis Angel’s latest weaving series, The Censor’s Cut: Weavings for Intellectual Freedom, did not hang in a gallery or an art fair, but at a bookstore in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At Magic City Books, titles including A Court of Mist and Fury, Gender Queer, Flamer, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, did not just sit on shelves but hung transformed–all shredded and rewoven (paper + yarn), with the bright yellow “Banned Books” tape plastered across their backs.

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A note of passing (and this might be behind a paywall if you aren’t a subscriber): Isabelle de Borchgrave created examples of 300 years of fashion history in paper, starting with the 15th century. The collection, which she and her collaborator Rita Brown called “Papiers à la Mode,” grew to more than 80 pieces and toured museums around the world.

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Paper Tidbits

• 23 Sandy and Baylor University Libraries are hosting an international juried book arts exhibition called Ritual. Submit your work.
• Weave Through Winter is coming! Registration opens on New Year’s Day, and class will run Feb 1-28, with a kick off on January 31st.
• We’ll be making woven paper lanterns and books in a one-day online session through Maine Media Workshops in December – perfect for holiday gift giving. Join me!

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In My Studio Shop

As the holidays approach, I’m featuring a few products in my online shop. I have ten 5-sheet sets of the abaca paper shown below. Click on the images to order.