Sculptures / Formation
Formation began with an experiment: crumpling Western paper treated with plant-based starch (Konnyaku) solution, to see how it might soften, strengthen, or resist. Inspired by the Japanese traditional Momigami, I adapted the process—applying a konnyaku starch solution, letting the sheet dry, then gently kneading it by hand over weeks.
As I worked, the paper slowly transformed—becoming supple in places, tearing in others. Its surface began to resemble skin: resilient, worn, alive with marks of touch and time. One day, damp and pliable like paper clay, it invited a new gesture. I pinched it rhythmically between thumb and forefinger, creating an undulating terrain of ridges and valleys.
Later, I brushed graphite across the surface, not to define it, but to heighten its shifting nature—light catching texture, shadow suggesting form. What began as a study in technique became a meditation on place, memory, and change. The work carries impressions of landscapes I’ve known and imagined, and now makes me think of the earth itself—fragile, enduring, always becoming something new.
50” x 50” Stonehenge paper, plant-based starch, graphite, hand-manipulated.More information (audio for the exhibition "One Sheet: Paper" at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities)
https://www.youraudiotour.com/tours/3749/stops/12463
Photo: Wes Magyar
