The Nature of Paper

Sept. 2 - 29, 2005

For a larger view and/or more information, click on the thumbnails below:

This juried exhibition is featuring works by women artists which make specific use of the nature of paper as a medium rather than as a support material or substrate, including (but not limited to): handmade artists’ books, sculptures, paper cuts, pulp painting, and other works that use paper as the primary medium in innovative ways.

Artists Represented:

Barbara Barnes Allen, Sibylla Benatova, Ilse Bolle, Nichol Brinkman, Rose Camastro-Pritchett, Rose Ann Chasman, Susanne Clawson, Jenn Dierdorf, Eileen Downes, April Flanders, Mary Gaynier, Michèle Guichard, Karen Hanmer, Barbara Harman, Laura C. Hewitt, Lois James, Kathy Kadlubowski, Linda Lemon, Beili Liu, Crystal McCann, Anne Q. McKeown, Monika Meler, Suesi Metcalf, Betsy R. Miraglia, Hanne Niederhausen, Leah Oates, Linnea Paskow, Anna Plesset, Elizabeth Rhoads Read, Sally Rose, Lisa Switalski, Jennifer Weigel, Ellie Winberg, Jia Zhang

Juror(s): Melissa Jay Craig
Melissa Jay Craig is the fulltime teaching Artist In Residence at the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts. She has been teaching in the Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts MFA degree program since 1996.

"For nine months out of the year, I dwell in a microcosmic, paper-driven universe at the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts. There, I am exposed to myriad permutations of handmade paper daily. During the other three months, I am intensively experimenting with my own fibers and structures. So, I was a bit startled as I first went through the entries for The Nature of Paper exhibition and discovered that less than half of them had anything to do with artist-made paper. Even though the prospectus didn't specifically call for it, I think I had envisioned a handmade paper show.

However, I quickly began to enjoy the opportunity to view the many excellent entries, regardless of the source of the paper. I chose what I felt were the best examples of the range of work before me: collage, mixed media, sculpture, installation and many, many artists' books. The works that you see in this exhibition appealed to me for their wit, resonance or beauty and their well-considered conception and execution. I ended up wishing I had a much larger gallery to fill." -Melissa Jay Craig