Make art, not…


combatpaperRiparian Sheets. 2014. Traditional size of paper created during the prolific period of hand papermaking production in Baghdad many centuries ago. These sheets were made on site at various water sources (OK, AZ, AR, CA) with a recipe of military uniforms, us currency and flags. #ragsmakepaper #combatpaper #handmade #paper #pulp #veteran #usarmy #baghdad #papertrail #portraits #fortsill #lakepowell #usf #lakecatherine #sanfrancisco #california #papermaker #combatpaperproject
Combat Paper. Riparian Sheets. 2014. (Image credit – Drew Cameron)

A couple of things that are in perfect alignment with current area of research have recently just fallen into my lap. They are sensitive and intimate and multifaceted and beautiful, and I want to share them.

First up, Combat Paper, by Drew Cameron (link is to his amazing instagram, and nope, no relation).

Thanks to my fandom and his generosity, I’m now working with some of Drew’s incredible papers, made from military uniforms, for some pieces that will be exhibited in the upcoming Radiant Pavilion jewellery festival in Melbourne. His ongoing Combat Paper project is a beautiful and compelling project, a truly elegant synthesis of artistic intent, process and resulting artifact.

[As an unrelated aside, watching the social medias on the JMGA Conference in Sydney and Wunderrūma Week in Auckland have only increased my excitement for RP.]

Stephen Mulqueen: Men with Flowers

Stephen’s his essay (on the AJF blog) and recent works made from re-purposed bullet shells are beautiful.

“Jewelry and sculpture are two forms of cultural production that can activate personal and collective memory. The Irish historian Roy Foster suggests that history is made by remembering things; I began to assert that we might also remember and understand histories in other ways—by making things.”

Well said, that man.

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