volume 23, number summer 2008

H A N D PA P E R M A K I N G
volume 23, number 21 • winter
summer2008
2008
Letter from the Editor
2 The Integral Role of Handmade Paper in Contemporary Artist Books
inge
bruggeman
3
The Activated Page:
Sharing Insights on Hand Papermaking in Artist Books
jae
jennifer rossman
7
Old Materials, New Twists:
Two Bookbinding Paper Samples by Cave Paper Inc.
bridget
o’malley
10
Working the Mulberry: Kozo Paper in Book Art
rory
golden
12
Thoughts on Making Old Paper
jim
croft
18
ON the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Book Arts Collection
michael
durgin
22
Alabama Mule Dung Paper
steve
miller & glenn house
26
Foreground Meets Background:
The Collaboration of Calligraphy and Papermaking
rose
folsom
30
Reviews
aliza thomas: Holland Paper Biennial 2008
anne q. mckeown: A Ripple in the Water: Healing Through Art
amanda degener: Paper and Threshold
35
38
42
Jules Heller (1919–2007), An Appreciation
john risseeuw 44
47
Authors
Advertisers
and Contributors 48
front cover: Claire Van Vliet, Circulus Sapientiae [Circle of wisdom], 2001, 12 x 5 ½ inches, pulp painting on handmade
paper, CD, published in an edition of 120 by Janus Press, Newark, Vermont. Photo: John Somers. Courtesy of the artist.
back cover: Rory Golden, detail of a two-sided work titled Wrong Circus, 19 x 13 inches, from the installation See Related
Story: The Murder of J.R. Warren, 2006. Courtesy of the artist.
winter 2008 • Letter from the Editor
publisher
Hand Papermaking, Inc.
editor
Mina Takahashi
designer
Russell Maret
printer
Todd Allan Printing
executive director
Tom Bannister
board of directors
Cathleen A. Baker, Sidney Berger, Shannon Brock,
Inge Bruggeman, Georgia Deal, Gail Deery,
Jim Escalante, Helen Hiebert, Ann Marie Kennedy,
Barbara Lippman, Andrea Peterson, Margaret Prentice,
John Risseeuw, Beck Whitehead
board of advisors
Timothy Barrett, Simon Blattner, Gregor R. Campbell,
Mindell Dubansky, Jane M. Farmer, Helen C. Frederick,
Elaine Koretsky, James Sitter, Claire Van Vliet, James Yarnell
co-founders
Amanda Degener & Michael Durgin
Hand Papermaking is a nonprofit organization dedicated to
advancing traditional and contemporary ideas in the art of
hand papermaking through publications and other means.
Please visit the website: www.handpapermaking.org.
Hand Papermaking (issn 0887-1418) is published twice
a year by Hand Papermaking, PO Box 1070, Beltsville, MD
20704, usa. Tel 800-821-6604 or 301-220-2393.
Hand Papermaking is indexed by Art Index (since 1998).
An index covering Volumes 1 through 7 (1986 through 1992) is
available from the publisher for $5.
Annual subscriptions are $50 per year in North America;
$75 elsewhere. Two-year subscriptions are $95 in North America;
$145 elsewhere. Payment in U.S. dollars is required. Visa/Mastercard accepted.
Copyright © 2008 Hand Papermaking, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission. Requests for
permission should be addressed to the publisher.
Hand Papermaking welcomes and will consider unsolicited
manuscripts but cannot guarantee their return unless they are
accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Initial
inquiries are recommended. Write to: Editor, at the address
listed above.
• hand papermaking
In Paper and Its Relationship to Books (1934), Robert Henderson Clapperton
concludes his lecture with this recommendation: “I suggest to the makers of
books that the paper is well worthy of every consideration, and I do not think
I am asking too much when I appeal to you never to plan the production of a
book except in close conjunction with the paper.” When bookmakers employ
handmade paper, they offer a nuanced interpretation of the book’s content and
enhance the sensory (visual, tactile, auditory) experience for the reader. With
all of the reading I do these days on a computer screen, I must admit that even
handling a newspaper, turning pages with smudgy fingers, and snapping the
folded pages in place, offer a satisfying read. But the enduring nature of handmade paper, the papermaker’s care and attention you sense from the pages, and
a small-batch sensibility—we think of the supply of machine-made paper as
endless vs. handmade paper as limited and precious—all make for a rich and
heightened reading experience. And so, for this issue of Hand Papermaking we
explore how handmade paper serves and partners with the book arts. In particular, we focus on artist books. [NB: There is a longstanding debate about the term
“artist book.” It is often referred to as an “artist’s book” or as “artists’ books.” For
the ease and elegance in saying and spelling the term, Hand Papermaking uses
“artist book,” the uninflected genitive (thanks to Sid Berger for the grammatical
term) when referring to a book created by an artist or artists. When referring to
more than one book, Hand Papermaking uses the plural form, “artist books.”]
Publisher and book artist Inge Bruggeman begins the issue by introducing
a range of recently published artist books that incorporate handmade paper with
sensitivity and intelligence. Jae Jennifer Rossman tells us about her experience
as a librarian and curator awakening to the creative contributions of handmade
paper in artist books. Rory Golden discusses the use of Asian handmade papers
in contemporary artist books and describes in detail some of his inventive studio techniques using mulberry paper. Jim Croft shares his working philosophy
of making paper and books using old ways from the medieval age. For ON,
Michael Durgin takes us through some of the highlights of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Book Arts Collection. In this issue, we offer three
wonderful book-related paper samples, two new bookbinding papers by Cave
Paper Inc. and an unusual paper made by Steve Miller and Glenn House with
Alabama mule dung (no odor I promise!) inspired by bookmaking adventures
in Cuba.
In addition, we are pleased to present an essay by Rose Folsom which accompanies Hand Papermaking’s eighth limited-edition portfolio, Calligraphy
and Handmade Paper, along with reproductions of all fifteen artworks. In reviews, Aliza Thomas gives us her impressions of the “Holland Paper Biennial
2008,” Anne McKeown considers a new documentary film on Kim Berman
and her papermaking and printmaking efforts in South Africa, and Amanda
Degener responds to Dorothy Field’s book on the spiritual uses of handmade
paper, Paper and Threshold. John Risseeuw closes the issue with a remembrance
of Jules Heller (1919—2007).
We have recently lost another important and dear friend in our field, Marilyn
Sward. Marilyn was a lifelong champion of paper and book arts. We dedicate
this issue to her memory.
–Mina Takahashi
Installation view at CODA Apeldoorn with works by artists (far left to right) Nikki van Es, Joan Hall, Stefan Saffer, Nancy Cohen, and Ferry Staverman. Photo: Miriam Londoño.
Holland Paper Biennial 2008
reviewed by aliza thomas
“Holland Paper Biennial 2008”
Museum Rijswijk and CODA Apeldoorn,
both in the Netherlands
June 10–September 14, 2008
For the seventh Holland Paper Biennial, a seven-member jury including the
show’s curator Anne Kloosterboer chose a fascinating array of artists to sample
the range of contemporary paper artworks produced around the world. A total
of 27 international artists were selected for the Biennial, 16 of whom exhibited work at both venues: Célio Braga (Netherlands/Brazil), Long-Bin Chen
(Taiwan/United States), Nancy Cohen, (United States), Petra Ellert (Germany),
Claudie Hunzinger (France), Nikki van Es (Netherlands), Angela Glajcar (Germany), Joan Hall (United States), Winifred Lutz (United States), Richard Mens
(Netherlands), Oskar (Netherlands), Stefan Saffer (Germany), Lyndi Sales
(South Africa), Ivano Vitali (Italy), Annette Wimmershoff (Germany), Noriko
Yamaguchi (Japan/Germany). Showing their work only at Museum Rijswijk
were Patricia Hodson (England), Kakuko Ishii (Japan), Yu-Mi Kim (South
Korea), Jin-Woo Lee (South Korea), Chris Natrop (United States), and Maya
Portner (United States); and solely at CODA Apeldoorn were Ed Pien (Taiwan/
Canada), Georgia Russell (England), Annette Sauermann (Germany), Howard
Silverman (England), and Ferry Staverman (Netherlands).
The range of work on view at both venues included paper cuttings, sculpted
telephone directories, assemblages, and installations. The exhibitions showcased a diversity of sensibilities to this versatile medium and included artists
who work both two- and three-dimensionally in paper. There was a striking
contrast between the delicate Asian papers with its translucent character and
the subtle uses of all kinds of industrial paper.
The finesse displayed by artists manipulating telephone directories could
not be overlooked. The main exhibition space in the Rijswijk museum showed
the works of the Dutch artist Oskar and Taiwan artist Long-Bin Chen, both
of whom use telephone directories to create their sculptures, yet with different approaches. Chen creates Buddha heads carved out of piled-up New York
tele-phone directories. The use of New York telephone books is intentional:
to bridge a gap between East and West. Rather, Oskar works with telephone
books for the paper’s working properties. In creating her big, three-dimensional figures, she first creates an armature of chicken wire, and covers it with
telephone book paper because the paper has the right strength. Oskar often
leaves parts of the paper showing through her powerful, human-size figures of
winter 2008 • 35
Annette Sauermann, Light Reservoir, 2001, 245 x 460 x 460 cm [96 ½ x 181 x 181
inches], paper and concrete tiles, installed at CODA Apeldoorn. Photo: Miriam
Long-Bin Chen, front and back views of Guan Ying (Need a Ride?), 2008, 60 x 30 x
Londoño.
35 cm [23.6 x 11.8 x 13.8 inches], telephone directories. Shown at Rijswijk Museum.
Courtesy of Frederieke Taylor Gallery, New York.
Ivano Vitali and his work made of twisted and knitted
newspaper. Courtesy of Rijswijk Museum.
36 • hand papermaking
painted papier-mâché, giving the sculpture more tactility. Lyndi
Sales’ big yet fragile circle made of South African boarding pass
paper, also on view in the main hall, complemented Oskar’s
large-scale sculptures.
Richard Mens and Winifred Lutz exhibited other exciting
sculptural forms. Here you can speak about two extremes. Richard Mens uses balled-up newspapers and cellophane tape to create his big figures. The tape adds a sparkle to the work under certain lighting conditions. On the contrary, Winifred Lutz creates
quietly intense work with high-shrinkage flax paper. Her forms
are closed and solid and have a stone-like character. Another
interesting artist showing sculpture was Annette Sauermann.
She works mainly with transparent industrial paper to create
large-scale light reservoirs. Jin-Woo Lee works sculpturally yet
in a two-dimensional process of gluing an endless amount of
hanji paper, incorporating paint, pigments, charcoal, and soil.
He pounds, rubs, and pushes out the air and scrapes the final
surface with an iron brush to create his mysterious landscapelike pieces.
In this brief review, I have highlighted only a few artists
whose work either appealed to me at first sight or with whom
I had a chance to discuss their work in person. No doubt, there
were many works by other artists that were equally enjoyable. As
a whole, the public received the exhibitions at both venues with
great enthusiasm.
As with each Biennial, a special publication entitled Pure
Paper accompanied this seventh Holland Paper Biennial. Peter
Gentenaar compiled the book’s contents and Loes Schepens designed the handsome publication which consists of nine different books nicely fitted in a case made of printed honeycombed
cardboard. Each section is printed on different kinds of cover
and book papers and contains a rich variety of stories and reports
about papermaking.
reviews
Jin-Woo Lee, Sources, 2006–2007, 90 x 157 cm [35.4 x 61.8 inches], Korean
Joan Hall, Your Existence Is Not Unlike My Own, 2007, 66 x 120 x
paper, pigments, walnut stain, charcoal. Shown at Rijswijk Museum. Photo:
8 inches, handmade kozo and gampi paper, pulp painting with
Jean-Louis Losi. Courtesy of Galerie Maria Lund, Paris.
overbeaten cotton, mixed-media printing, mylar, acrylic. Shown at
Rijswijk Museum. Photo: Richard Springler. Courtesy of Bruno
David Gallery, St. Louis.
One section features the artists who participated in the Biennial. They are represented with a photograph and a personal
statement of their work. The section starts with an introduction
about order in chaos and chaos in order: “People like to organize
their chaos. Their space becomes a house with a roof on it, in the
woods around it have a road paved through it and a dike holds
water back. We gladly roll up our sleeves to work on all these human efforts. Although the real order only arrives when a piece
of paper appears.”
One of the sections (catalogue no. 3) contains samples of paper used by the exhibiting artists while catalogue no. 4 shows
paper artists at work. Rogier Uitenboogaart contributes an article titled “Washi, Mirror of Man and Nature,” illustrated with a
beautiful series of photographs. Helen Hiebert discusses Peter
Gentenaar’s sculptures and his working process. [Editor’s note:
Hiebert’s article originally appeared in the Summer 2008 issue
of Hand Papermaking.] Pat Torley follows this essay with a photoreport on her creative process. In other essays, Elaine Koretsky
reports on her extensive research on the subject of Asian papermaking, and Jacob Eyferth complements Koretsky’s essay
with an article on the paper of the Xia family in China. The book
also contains articles about the future of papermaking, touching
on the battle for cellulose and the search for alternative papermaking fibers, a discussion in which the early research of Jacob
Christian Schäffer plays an important role. Pure Paper (in Dutch
and English) presents information in a very accessible format,
and contains an incredible number of photographs, making it
a pleasure to look at. More information about the book and the
exhibition are available online at www.hollandpapierbiennale.nl
and at www.museumryswyk.nl/hpb2008.
Oskar, Pieta, 2006, 130 x 170 x 150 cm [51.2 x
66.9 x 59 inches], paper on chicken wire. Shown
at Rijswijk Museum. Photo: Florine Visser.
Courtesy of Rijswijk Museum.
winter 2008 • 37