Handmade Paper Creates MOWA Exhibit’s Eye-opening Art

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Visual Arts

All due respect to Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan, the medium really is the message in an upcoming exhibit at the Museum of Wisconsin Art’s downtown Milwaukee gallery at Saint Kate–The Arts Hotel. “Handmade Paper Stories,” which runs March 4–May 15 highlights the work of four Madison artists, and the paper they used goes beyond being merely a medium for art, but becoming the art itself.

Fiber artists Hannah O’Hare Bennett, Mary Hark, Henry Obeng and Maria Amalia Wood are all affiliated with UW-Madison, and their work is remarkable both in its depth and simplicity. MOWA curatorial engagement fellow Anwar Floyd-Pruitt, who curated this exhibit, took a moment to tell us about the unique concept behind the works.

Most viewers see paper as just the vehicle for art. What makes these works stand out?

Paper is often viewed solely as the substrate for another medium, such as drawing, painting and printmaking. Even in the cases of origami or paper cutting, where no additional material is added, the paper itself is still not the art as much as the cuts or folds that transform a single sheet into a sculpture. I think paper itself becomes art when a single sheet is enough to satisfy both the maker and the viewer, when nothing needs to be added or subtracted from the newly dried matrix of cellulose fiber. One of the aspects that stands out in homemade paper is how the elements that comprise paper are often still recognizable even after they’ve been transformed into sheets. Oftentimes, one can see and feel the interlocking fibers and know the source of the constituent material that forms a sheet.

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How prevalent is papermaking as an artistic medium?

While not as well-known as other artistic forms like painting or sculpture, contemporary handmade paper is in its fourth or fifth decade of notoriety in the United States. The International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists (IAPMA) was founded in 1986 and focuses on the role of paper as art form and contemporary artistic medium. That same year also saw the launch of Hand Papermaking magazine, a leading publication dedicated to the medium, which “chronicle(s) the finest work in the field, while advancing the scholarship and production of handmade paper and paper art.” In 1993, an article entitled “Medium as Metaphor,” referenced the 1970s as the early years of the contemporary U.S. paper movement.

Of the four artists represented, does any one of them stand out to you?

All of the work in the exhibition is beautiful and exceptional, with unique points of connection and entry for audiences. There is, however, an arresting quality to many of Mary Hark’s single sheets of paper, which are displayed in piles or stacks, that stop me every time I see them. Their soft sheen and crisp edges remind me of a gourmet confection or, more specifically, the hardened caramelized sugar layer of crème brulee. I just want to snap off an edge of her paper and put it my mouth to see if it melts on my tongue.

What will viewers take away from this exhibit?

Handmade Paper Stories includes hundreds of sheets of paper. Some of them will be displayed as bound books, others as single sheets framed and hanging on the gallery wall. Some of the works have surprising colors, shapes and textures that are barely recognizable as paper. The main takeaway of the exhibit, then, is understanding that handmade paper is a medium with limitless potential for creative expression that will inspire and wow audiences.

The Museum of Wisconsin Arts’ “Homemade Paper Stories” will be on display March 4 – May 15 at MOWA DTN inside Saint Kate – The Arts Hotel, 139 E. Kilbourn Ave., Milwaukee.