Slash: Paper Under the Knife

“Because of its ordinariness, and unlike other materials such as metal, wood, glass, and ceramics, paper carries little or no cultural, social or economic baggage. We take it for granted, and therein lies its appeal as an art medium. Its true value is discovered only in its transformation.”
–David Revere McFadden, Chief Curator (Slash exhibition catalog, p.11)

Since this show opened in October I have been plotting, scheming and dreaming up ways to get to New York. I finally got my wish in March and was not disappointed. Being a life-long paper lover I knew this would be a revelatory experience for me. The MAD Museum chose to celebrate its first anniversary focusing on paper, the traditional first-year gift. Their previous two shows, Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting and Pricked: Extreme Embroidery showcased how contemporary artists are pushing a traditional medium in extraordinary ways. Slash: Paper under the Knife, showcases 50 international artists who use cut paper in their work.

This blog post is not a formal art review, so I’ll just highlight a few pieces that affected me personally.

Mia Pearlman’s work is featured in the gift shop window with a special edition available for sale just for this show. Pearlman creates site-specific paper installations using ink drawings and large rolls of white paper resulting in energetic whirls and maelstroms pulsating with portent energy. She states, “these drawings and their shadows capture a weightless world in flux, frozen in time, tottering on the brink of being and not being.” I sat for a long period of time in front of her work just taking in each cut, shape and counter-shape. As with all the works in the exhibition, there is immeasurable enjoyment taking in the entire piece visually and then truly looking at each detail and combination of textures. I found her work to be simultaneously energetic and effortless.

I adore Georgia Russell’s altered books sculptures. She cuts the pages from a book into manipulated fragments and paper shards. The fragments give us visual clues to the book’s past while questioning its meaning in present form. The page remnants appear like feathers creating a surrealistic effect with each piece. The piece in the show is housed in glass which adds to the idea that her work is a unique object worth preserving.

And finally I stood agape at Jane South’s amazing hand-cut large-scale sculpture, a huge abstracted architectural paper construction. With the exception of a few wooden support elements, all the forms in her pieces are hand-cut and constructed with ink and acrylic added on the surface. The result are these fantastic forms which are technical, industrial and futuristic too; it’s as if they would all spring to life and transport you to another place. Every crevice of her piece is to be enjoyed in form, texture, variety, surface treatment and construction.

For me the world of paper contains curiosity, wonder, ingenuity, transformation, materiality, beauty and creativity embodied in physical form. The show brought all these qualities to bear in the amazing array of pieces. Upon my return home there’s nothing I want to do more than start cutting my giant stack of beautiful Envelopments papers and create a piece as a result of this show!

Post a comment below and share any websites and/or artists that inspire you with paper cutting and paper arts.

View all the work in the exhibition on the MAD Museum Site:
MAD Museum – Slash: Paper Under the Knife