MashUp 2023: Pyramid’s Annual Members Exhibition from Pyramid Atlantic

As a paper artist I work primarily with overbeaten abaca pulp, which lends paper a somewhat translucent appearance. It is in abaca's nature to shrink as it dries, so unless it is weighted it shrinks and curls.If embedded with flexible objects, like the basket caning in this piece, the shrinkage will be guided by those objects, and will "take" the objects with them as the abaca fibers find their natural pattern. It's quite magical to watch the process. More magical yet is that the property of shrinkage is not adversely affected when another paper pulp is introduced to the mix, provided the abaca is still primary.

The story of Emergence, the piece in the Pyramid Atlantic Members Mash-up show, the additional pulp is recycled egg cartons. Not just any egg carton, but one with a story. I'm as much of a recycler and environmentalist as possible, not to mention a magpie of sorts. I was quite taken with the egg cartons that SauderEggs uses for its small farm, free range product because of the beautiful green color. it turned out that these particular cartons were made from 50% recycled cotton paper, and 50% grass. I started experimenting with it and loved the results, which jived with my having started a series of work called Leaves of Grass as an homage to Walt Whitman, and my work in social justice. Indeed, when I first put the elements of this piece together I did so as a part of that series, and was surprised when it "emerged" as my fascination with cicadas found its way to the piece.

I owe a debt of gratitude to Sauder Eggs for making a generous donation of damaged egg cartons to me, so I have enough to make many more pieces, for a long time to come. My first patron!