Folded

My earliest childhood memories are of Helen Ishi, my father’s business partner. Japanese culture is about sharing and generosity with others. When Helen would visit, she would bring little things for me to play with: small Japanese dolls and toys and my favorite, origami. I loved the bright colors and papers that could be folded and fashioned into animals and other shapes. I’ve always loved the texture and look of paper, especially Japanese paper. I think that’s why I studied printmaking in high school and college – initially woodcuts, then drypoint and soft ground etching, and now encaustic monotype. During the last 7 years my focus has been on the encaustic monotype and the variety of ways I can use it in my work: collage, mounted on panels and painted with acrylic or encaustic paint. Now, I fold them into shapes, sometimes trimming to reshape. Folding alters the painted imagery and yields something quite different from the original image. Lately, my favorite time of the day has been when I make the day’s folded piece.

June 19, 2014

My new series, Folded, is a way of representing time spent in the studio every day through the use of folds. Each piece contains a certain number of folds that correspond to the day of the month. For example, the piece made on June 14 has 14 folds. The folds have different widths, corresponding to a predetermined calculation I make for each piece. The papers used in these pieces are fragments of encaustic monotypes created previously on Japanese papers; the monotypes were made relatively close to the same time as the day the folded piece was made.

This project developed as my other collage projects have – out of a need to break away from whatever painting or show I was working on; the goal being to loosen up and have some fun in a less important and time-consuming  way. I set certain parameters for myself: maximum time spent on each folded piece would be an hour or less and no piece would be larger than 12″x12″. Many of the pieces made duirng this first month, June,  are smaller. Collage has always been my default for those frustrating and trying moments in the studio and in my life. It contains the perfect balance of intention and chance.

June 5, 2014

June 5, 2014

June 10, 2014

June 10, 2014

June 12, 2014

June 12, 2014

June 14, 2014

June 14, 2014

June 15, 2014

June 15, 2014

June 16, 2014

June 16, 2014

June 17, 2014

June 17, 2014

June 11, 2014

June 11, 2014

June 6, 2014

June 6, 2014