The Sunday Paper #509

May 19, 2024

I’m delighted to welcome Shawna Moulton to the studio for two weeks. I met Shawna when I was a visiting artist at Arnold Grummer’s Paper on the River event several years ago. She is the third intern sponsored with the assistance of the Arnold Grummer family. Shawna has been here this past week and will assist me in the first Papermaking Master Class of 2024 next week.

Shawna is a multi-disciplinary artist and art educator based in South Florida. She has been in residence at the Bakehouse Arts Complex since 2022 and is presently a member of the Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator. Shawna was born in Freeport, Bahamas, raised in Kingston, Jamaica, and then migrated to the United States. The artworks she creates reflect her search for identity through her heritage as an immigrant in America, with deep connections to the Caribbean rooted in the richness of the African Diaspora.

I’m delighted to have a clean studio (before the master class) and look forward to working with the group.

We cut up 3 pairs of worn jeans, beat them to a pulp and formed a few sheets. Master Class participants will use the rest of the pulp.

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Origami tessellations are repeating patterns folded from a single sheet of paper, using a background grid (folded in advance) to help locate the twisting structures used to construct the pattern. These twists come in a variety of shapes, 30 of which will be taught in the free Summer of Twists series by Gathering Folds starting on June 3. Whether you learn all 30 twists or stick with the 8 most basic ones, there are hundreds of patterns to be folded from these shapes. The process of preparing the grid is meditative, and folding the pattern onto the gridded paper is a never-ending source of puzzles. Paper packs and a pattern ebook are available for purchase to support you as you work through the series together with hundreds of folders around the globe.

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I recently learned about the work of Kelly Joy Ladd, who works with paper in such interesting ways!

© Kellly Joy Ladd, Universe Series, 88”x48”x6” acid-free paper and light, site-specific, 2024.

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If I lived in San Francisco, I would go see the current show of Hayv Kahraman’s work at the ICA San Francisco. Her work confronts the legacy of colonialism in botany – please click through and read her powerful story – “I’ve learned I don’t have to have control over everything in my environment. Control was what I thought could keep me safe.” Kahraman is a painter, but the Turkish marbling that she incorporates into the work drew me to this article.

Hayv Kahraman, Love Me Love Me Not Date (2023). Courtesy of the artist, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, Pilar Corrias, London, The Third Line, Dubai, and Vielmetter Los Angeles. Courtesy Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco. Photo: Glen Cheriton, Impart Photography.

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Paper Tidbits

• Apply for Maine Media’s Book Artist in Residence. Deadline: June 9th.
• Dieu Donné’s 2025 Workspace Residency for NY State-based visual artists is now open for applications. Deadline: June 30th.
• Have you had a chance to listen to my interview with Megumi Inouye on Paper Talk?

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About our Sponsor: Gathering Folds helps aspiring tessellation folders to deeply understand tessellations with courses and tutorials focused on broad structures, theory, and folding skills so they can approach new patterns with confidence and even start designing patterns of their own.

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