Author: LARA ARTIST DESIGNER MAKER

I wanted to consider how I could progress with my practice and in particular with how I can continue the exploration into site specific sculptural work, natural materials, traditional paper making techniques and the material qualities of paper.

I want to experiment with wall hung forms and possible art installation to explore how my work could take a different form. This is the same with the possible progression of my work being large scale lighting because of the opaquisity and fragility of the paper forms would lend itself to being lit.

I want to continue my exploration into the paper making process. Especially learning form a professional paper maker or someone within the professionalism to patch any of the gaps in my knowledge as a lot of my knowledge is self taught.

My inspiration is the natural world, material and process, fascinated by lichen, its form and its role as part of the woodland ecosystem and specifically within the New Forest, Hampshire. I am intrigued by how one life form can be sustained from another, circular and constantly renewing. I use traditional paper making techniques to make handmade paper, using Abaca Fibre and discarded waste paper collected from the offcuts of artwork, as well as locally sourced collected and dried natural materials. I embed these into the paper, along with wild woodland seeds. The paper making process is rhythmic and repetitive; Continual and slow. The paper fibres are beaten, pulped and formed into thin sheets with deckled edges. Thin, opaque and fragile. I use papier mâché to build the organic spherical structures using a natural cellulose glue from corn starch, making the forms both sustainable and biodegradable. The inclusion of wild woodland seeds into the paper intends to recreate natural ecosystem cycles; sculptures biodegrade, change form, returning back to nature, regenerating or recycled into something new… an indelible trace of themselves. I combine both traditional red list endangered craft with contemporary paper manipulation, to create delicate organic forms. My ambition is to create an appreciation for paper for its material qualities, often involving the use of the human senses, of sight, touch and smell. Also creating an awareness for consciously made artwork, with nature and sustainability in mind.

I decided to make mock ups of what I am hoping to create as photoshop images of my work in location.

The top left image, a white cube gallery space was my instinctive choice for location. This would be a classic location for a sculptural form to be. Although I believe a more industrial style polished concrete would compliment my work better as the contrast of natural inspiration and man made materials/ man made paper create an interesting opposition that when placed together work quite well.

The top right, an industrial brick. I could also visualise the forms complimenting the industrial man made background. or perhaps an interior space? for the similar reasons as above.

The bottom left, a woodland is where I intend to take some of my photographs for my final form. Although practically this is not the best location for the forms as they will disintegrate through biodegradation of the paper. It is harmonious to show the forms against the origins of my inspiration, The New Forest .

The bottom right, a stream. Although not the most practical for reasons above. I photographed some of my maquettes on a piece of wood that was resting in the water and the rippling of the water provides an interesting distortion of the forms and a reflection of the underside of the forms.

nature vs man made

man made pros

• provides interesting contrast
• juxtaposes the natural forms
• preserves the delicate paper
• is a more public space

nature pros

• provides harmonious backdrop to the forms
• compliments the materials and inspiration
• people would discover the forms.

manmade cons

• could distract away from the delicate forms
• forms could lose impact and meaning
• could get a little lost in the space if they are not raised up

nature cons

• forms will disintegrate and biodegrade
• effects of weather and wild animals (In the New Forest there are wild horses)
• lack of publicity or propper exhibition of work

I decided to make my own circular model for my process, to demonstrate how my work can be explained through a diagram, this was inspired by The Pulp Factory’s circular model. This is to explain how everything I make can be returned back into a cycle, making it sustainable and environmentally friendly.

It has occurred to me that all the way through this project, process and changes to the material and combining the natural collected materials has made the paper adopt subtle and distinctive smells taken from nature. I had my mum (who was previously a beer taster, who used descriptive words to describe the taste of beer) to describe the smells of my sculpture forms and the paper I am creating. This is what she came up with:

• old wood cedar/pine
• woodland on a wet day
• dusty
• dry
• pencil sharpenings
• floral
• sweet
• perfumed
• green leaf tea
• earl grey tea
• wood pine sawdust
• black tea
• rose/ floral drops

It is interesting to see the types of words that came up. When I first started this project I was not aware that these sculptures would have an aroma. It is hard to describe this kind of thing virtually but I believe it is beneficial to recognise that these are quite sensual and tactile forms, both through the material of paper and the use of natural materials.

On the HCA, Heritage crafts association paper making (commercial) is on the red list for Critically Endangered Crafts. It is sad to know something that I have a passion for is listed as critically endangered on the 2019 survey. I guess this encourages me to want to promote this craft further and create awareness for this traditional form of making paper. There is currently two mills making commercial paper in the UK, Two Rivers and Frogmore Paper Mill.