Paper Talk

Jerushia Graham is the Museum Coordinator for the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking and a working artist. Graham is interested in creating spaces for socially-minded introspection and empathy through her artwork, workshops, and curatorial projects. The Atlanta-based printmaker, papermaker, book artist, and fiber artist who exhibits both nationally and internationally, and is a member of the Book/Print Artist/Scholar of Color, the Movable Book Society, and the North American Hand Papermakers. Graham served as the first VP of Exhibitions/Curatorial for the North American Hand Papermakers (2020-2021)  She has also been a guest curator for the Zora Neale Hurston Museum in Eatonville, FL and The Hudgens Center for Art and Learning in Duluth, GA.

Prior to her work in Georgia she served as the Museum Director and Education Coordinator for Spiral Q, an arts and social justice non-profit in Philadelphia.

We talk about her works with cut paper: “With paper cutting, I’m trying to figure out how I can express a posture or gesture with one cut”. These cuts are from her Waiting series.

And these are from her Exodus series, created with black and white elements, mounted on kraft paper. These portray people in a state of exodus – migrants, refugees – carrying everything they have on their bodies.

Like a Living River combines paper cut and stitching.

See more of Graham’s work on the Spaulding Nix Fine Art website.

Graham also co-ordinates the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking Fast Film Fest, a free annual festival for stop-motion created from paper. She invites you to check out the website and consider participating. Information for each year is posted in January but you can see tutorials, past entries and panels here.

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Jerushia Graham’s recommendations:

• Book Print of Color Collective, a BIPOC group focused on book arts, printmaking, papermaking, and print media history, many of them extending the conversation about race and social justice in our society.

• Cut the Craft Podcast with by Brian Beidler and Amy Umbel.

• Graham was part of the Georgia exhibit for Paper Routes, an off shoot of the national exhibit. Here are videos of the Georgia artists, including Graham, talking about their processes.

Visit Jerushia Graham’s website, facebook and Instagram to learn more about her work.