Paper and More

Above piece is Untitled by Howardena Pindell, 1973 Ink on punched and pasted paper, talcum powder, and thread on paper, 10 1/8 x 8 3/8" (25.9 x 21.3 cm) The Museum of Modern Art. Gift of Lily Auchincloss, 1974 © 2009 Howardena Pindell (Image is from the MOMA web site.)

If you follow Joanne Mattera's blog you've read her recent reviews of the exhibition at the MOMA Paper:Pressed, Stained, Slashed, Folded that is up through June 22. (I am hoping to get to NYC on the heels of the conference at Montserrat and see it myself.) Thanks Joanne, for the posts. This exhibition and Dorthea Rockburn's folded paper pieces brought to mind Folds, a paper and encaustic piece by Denise Stringer-Davis that is part of the Degrees exhibition on view here in Houston until the 31st at M2 Gallery.

Above: Folds by Denise Stringer-Davis, Waxed toilet paper, variable size

Besides Davis, the work of San Antonio artist Michelle Belto and myself also use paper as a major part of our work in this exhibition.
Belto makes her own paper and molds it to suit her needs. Mother's Sewing Basket is a collage of paper, Encaustic and garment fasteners used in clothing construction. She said this piece is part of a series that pays homage to the women seamstresses in her family.


My work, Slow Burn/Skin Deep below, is primarily hand made paper and wax. I didn't make the paper. It is Thai paper made of sanitized abandoned bird's nests. Thick and rough like a grass matt and very organic looking. It is part of a new series of works I call Organic Compounds.

Above: Gwendolyn Plunkett, Slow Burn/Skin Deep, 42" x 24" x 2", Encaustic and handmade Thai Bird's Nest paper on canvas on panel.

Degrees Exhibition runs through Sunday, May 31 so you still have time to see it.

In the MOMA show, the Howardena Pindell piece at the top is one of my favorites but I am intrigued by John Cage's Wild Edible Drawing No. 8, from 1990. It is handmade paper of milkweed, cattail, saffron, pokeweed and hijiki.

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Untitled, 2009 Rebea Ballin

At Joan Wich & Co here in Houston this month was an exhibition by artist Rebea Ballin whose work is not of paper but on paper. Prismacolor (black) pencil drawings of hair. Conversation with the artist in the Houston Chronicle last week is fresh and candid about how she came to this subject matter. Landscapes came to mind with my first glance at the work from the door.
No, but maybe.
A quote from her conversation with Douglas Britt, "What made me want to zoom in a little bit more was an interest in the landscape aspect of hair in the scalp, the textures and things like that."


Thurel Wright's piece above
At A Good Idea on Paper , Eleanor Jane Cardwell's blog, you can always find interesting works made of and on paper. May 22nd post features the work of Thurel Wright.

The May 15th post features Artist Valerie Jolly's work. She says "she casts objects in sticky wet tissue paper."