Ellie Winberg

Green Twist
handmade paper mounted on canvas
18 x 18 x 1.5 in.

Look see touch feel. I am a handmade-paper artist striving to create art that gives aesthetic pleasure, intrigues the visual senses, and brings fresh associations to the mind. I am attracted to papermaking for its tactile nature and fiber qualities. Beating, mixing and pouring paper require harnessing a flow of energy and transforming buckets of pulp into a deliberate design. It is a physical and strenuous process for the hands, body and mind.

I wish to push the boundaries of papermaking and explore its artistic possibilities. The end result is not to create paper, but to create shapes, curves and textures in abstract ways. It is a means for creating visual experiments that transform the raw fiber material into something totally different. I tend toward deeply saturated colors as a way to challenge myself to be bold and to awaken the viewer. At the same time, I am attracted to a form of minimalism. I look to simplify, clarify and cleanse each composition and design. If one pares away the nonessential, then hopefully one can contemplate and reflect on the fullness of an art object. I want my work to provoke a new response, a new thought to the timeless question on art: what is it?

© Ellie Winberg