Nadia Frierson

Laying in Bed (June 16th 2019)
Kozo & pigmented fine cotton
23 x 23 in.

Handmade paper serves as a creative medium for my tangible emotive processing. I am an undergraduate student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) entering my final year. I have been working as a paper artist for the past year and a half, it has become my primary medium.

My current focus is on creating representation of experiences. I have been using pigmented fine cotton to create half inch squares/grids, layering and consciously creating healthy boundaries for color, that can be related to the energy felt within an environment.

I start by pulling a sheet that is 23 x 30 inches or larger. My initial base sheets are either Cotton or Kozo fiber. I then mix pigments along with fine cotton fibers to create a monochrome palette  of pulp. The pigmented fine cotton pulp is what eventually become squares. I then apply each individual square of color until I have covered the larger base sheet which takes about 5 to 6 hours total. The sheets are thick and sturdy because of the layers. The layers get pressed into the big base sheet and then put into an air dryer for 48 to 72 hours.

With each sheet I am pushed to progress. I utilize the energy I put into my work as a way to analyze my fleeting thoughts, reflect on life’s interactions from experiences in order to understand and expand in the present.

© Nadia Frierson