by allofus
To an artist, image making on paper is a process dependent on the paper available in the shops. Options are determined by the manufacturer’s product line, the medium, and the size of the piece you undertake.
Now, at Wind Spirit Gallery, artist April White has gone a step further, to become independent of that limited array by producing her own paper. Using a by-product of the lumber industry, cedar bark, April is producing paper in her studio. Through collaboration with Argentinean artist Liliana Kleiner, the paper-making process has been demystified and taken to the grassroots level. Liliana travels the world, working with expert artisans from whom she learns while exploring the making of paper with indigenous materials in each country she visits.
Hand-made paper is texturally unique. It differs from the uniform commercial product in that each piece is an original work of art in itself, bringing with it a character different from the overlaid screen-printed images. The primitive process employed and the traditional material used reflect the ancient ways of April’s Haida ancestors. The Haida traditionally used cedar bark for clothing, vessels, tools and ceremonial regalia. Staying connected with her culture, April is using the cedar bark paper as a substrate in the print-making process for her formline images of Haida Gwaii. The nuances of this paper pose challenges that in turn influence the creative process.
The process starts with peeling the bark off the trees in the sawyer’s yard. The bark is then simmered for many hours in large pots until the tightly bound fibres soften. The weakened strips are then hand pounded or mechanically shredded into minute slivers. The fibres. dispersed in a deep water bath, float in suspension until caught up onto a screen. The paper-maker’s dance now begins, with a submerged screen in hand as partner, swirling around and through, timing the dip to end so that fibres land on the screen in artful balance. The song fades as the drained layers of fibre are sponged free of the screen and onto an awaiting cloth. The sheets are stacked one upon another until the music ends and all are pressed to squeeze out the excess water. Each sheet is then separated and rolled onto a smooth surface to be air-dried.
This elementary paper-making technique has been used all over the world by many cultures throughout history.The fibre may vary, from stalks and leaves of mulberry to stinging nettle, onion skins, papyrus grass, and cedar bark. The creative process opens new horizons with unlimited possibilities in the wealth of materials, textures and colors, as each organic fibrous material can produce a paper with a texture and colour exclusively its own.
Contact allofus@windspirit.com
or visit www.aprilwhite.com