Juried by Melissa Jay Craig “Nature of Paper” features works by thirty-four artists from across the United States and Canada. The exhibition includes creations by women artists working in a range of paper-based media from traditional to contemporary which make specific use of the nature of paper as a medium rather than as a support material or substrate.
In her juror statement Melissa Jay Craig comments: “I enjoyed 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 is included 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.”
Exhibiting Artists: 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, Susan 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: Melissa Jay Craig
Melissa Jay Craig holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she was a Merit Scholar and an Anna Louise Raymond Fellow. She has taught at Artists’ Book Works, the Newberry Library, The School of the Art Institute, Loyola University, Pyramid Atlantic and in many other schools and art centers around the country.
Melissa’s installations, handmade paper sculptures and book works are exhibited internationally. Her work can be viewed in many public collections, including: the Joan Flasch Collection at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Gund Library at the Cleveland Institute of Art, the Skillman Library Rare Books Collection at Lafayette University, the Jaffe Collection at Florida Atlantic University and at University of Chicago Press.
Melissa has been awarded numerous residencies, including eight consecutive residencies at the Ragdale Foundation. She was the recipient of the 2002 Columbia College Excellence in Teaching Award, and a 2003 Illinois Arts Council Finalist’s Grant.
(Banner Image: artwork by Linnea Paskow)
