Proposal -- Artists/Sources of Inspiration

1. Allen Eckman, Paper Pulp Artist

Fine Art Paper caster, Allen’s use of paper should not be confused with Paper Mache sculptures. He casts paper pulp into molds, very similar to Bronze or Slip casting methods. His technique produces beautiful pieces of work – they are delicate and incredibly realistic in detail. The texture is inviting and at a level I would like to mimic in my paper sculpture studies.

2. Kevin Dyer, Paper Pulp Artist

Originally a printmaker and relief painter his work has taken a different route towards cast paper embossed with bright gem-like colors. His 2D casts are similar to a technique I wish to use in my installation piece – I plan on creating a landscape with the absolute back with some sculptural depth rather than a flat piece.

3. Peter Callesen, Paper Sculptor

A minimalist who uses a white sheet of paper and follows a limited cut and folds the cut pieces into beautiful sculptures with the cut hole as a shadow of the actual paper piece. With some of the flora I will be adding into my installation I believe that following Peter Callesen’s technique of cutting shapes and piecing them together to make one shape will really boast the potential of my paper flora.

4. Jen Stark, Paper Sculptor

Though she doesn’t look like it, Jen Stark is a natural artist – her patterns and textures follow patterns found in nature. Examples like the Fibonacci Sequence as the flower petals. The color palette she uses is naturally alluring, similar to the strategy plants formulate in order to attract pollinators and people to interact with them so their seeds will spread.

5. Yulia Brodskaya, Paper Artist/Typography

A rare breed of artist – combines her love of graphic design and Typography with illustration expressed through sculpture. Her papergraphics are a marriage of her decorative illustration and the spontaneous rise of papercraft. Her technique is called paper quilling and it is something I’m very curious to incorporate into my installation in terms of detailing the flora. It makes me wonder too … should I even dare to think about text in my installation?

6. Eric Joisel, Paper Sculptor

A figurative origami artist who uses the wet-folding method with large sheets of paper and does not glue or cut at all. He is one of the greatest wet-folders of all time. I cannot begin to fathom how to mimic his folding techniques – I am only a novice at wet-folding, but I am beginning to understand the intricate planning of each fold in the paper, which is something I could discipline myself to do more of rather than just fold how I feel, but understand how to make the folds of the paper WORK for me and the level of detail I am trying to achieve.

7. Brian Chan, Paper Sculptor

Also an origami wet-folder, but the difference between him and Eric Joisel is that he tends to incorporate various colored paper into his pieces. This goes back to my theory of adding color in my paper sculpture.

8. AJ Fosik, Woodcraft Sculptor

Don’t be fooled, take a second look at his work and then realize that he makes his sculptures with wood and not paper. He is a folk artist who works with a combination of festive Chinese and Mexican mythology painting as layered woodcuts. Wood can easily become paper – it has the same texture qualities that cut paper has and has the same allure of drawing people in. AJ solves the issue of merging 2D and 3D as one glorious form a major part of what I plan on doing with my paper installation.

9. Anna-wili Highfield, Torn Paper Sculptor

Uses torn white and painted paper then sews the pieces together for a soft and delicate look. I started using torn forms for my wet-folded leaves for individuality. Her painted paper pieces take on an unpredictable, yet organic appearance. It is another factor I’m considering for individual pieces like leaves or petals.

10. Polly Verity, Wire and Paper Sculptor

Uses wire armature to build the body of her creatures and then wets translucent paper to be pasted over the wire form. She makes me consider the use of light and shadows with my installation, possibly to be used with the final display at the Senior Show in April – I will probably experiment with this idea once I have a few completed pieces and see how much light shines through my pulp casts.

11.

Calvin Nicholls, 2D/3D Paper Sculptor

A 2D paper artist who uses sheets of paper, similar to Peter Callesan’s work, but instead uses an engraving technique to acquire the fine details of fur, hair, nails, and more. These paper pieces sit flat on a matte board like illustrations, but upon closer inspection the details can reach out and tickle your nose when your face is just inches away. I’m trying to consider how to deal with hair, scales, shells, and fur on animals – it will be a challenge to develop this technique on my own sculpted pieces.

12. Dana Major Kanovitz, Paper Pulp Artist

She has a select few pieces that are actually paper pulp, but the ones she has made are amazing in scale and skill. She makes life size sculptures using Bronze casting methods. She adds human hair and animal fur and paints on the pulp with oil paints to really bring her paper casts to life, almost to the point where they are creepy. How she applies color to paper seems to be the most natural application compared to Kevin Dyer’s shiny gems. As realistic as her paint job is though, some paper artists like Allen Eckman have done a good job making their pulp sculptures look as they are about to breathe without the use of color.

12. Charles Clary, Paper Installation

His forms look biological and interesting on a multiple scale. He looks as if he quilled the paper like Yulia Brodskaya, but instead cut and layered paper to give a sense of depth and scale. His work veers towards horizontal quilling compared to Yulia’s verticle quills. Charles Clary’s work is another way to think about displaying texture from a 2D perspective.