Jurate Bigelis Silverman

My interest in papermaking began as a printmaker, experimenting with Japanese handmade papers to create a textural background for etchings, monotypes, and linocuts. The idea of creating my own papers with some of the imagery laid directly into the paper was both intriguing, and presented interesting challenges. The result has been many years of experimentation and learning to control the characteristics of the paper -- thickness, crispness, color, texture, patterns, dimensionality.

I have spent almost 30 years developing techniques to not only create imagery in paper, but to explore and define a new set of relationships between prints and paper -- not limited to printing on paper, but also embedding prints into paper, both fully and partially; creating unique papers specifically for certain prints to echo and complement the theme of the print; and creating prints of handmade papers on other handmade papers. My series "Reflections of Time" combines monotypes, monoprints and handmade paper and numbers over 90 works.

My approach to papermaking is painterly, using the pulp to create paintings, building up layers of pulp in landscapes, geometric patterns, and abstract patterns created in pulp and/or embossed with unusual textures. I like to combine metals and copper enamels with the paper for contrasting surface relationships. My "Children of God" series uses copper, copper enamels, and natural materials such as stone for part of the imagery against a matte paper pulp painted background, and numbers over 100 works.

The character of the paper is determined by the fibers used -- linen, cotton, hemp, banana leaf fiber (Manila hemp), silk, and plant materials -- and in the way it is prepared in the Hollander beater. One can combine, alter, and manipulate pulps at any stage of the process, using a variety of techniques. This provides endless possibility for creativity. And it can be both a 2-dimensional and a 3-dimensional medium, thus offering even more potential for expression. Paper is an exciting, wonderfully variable medium.

Handmade paper also forms the background for my original prints and it is the base for my original poetry which accompanies some of my series, thus enabling me to create works in their entirety -- from paper to image. My handmade paper books and cards also provide a tactile experience of paper.