Spinning Paper

Spinning Paper combines handmade paper processed from seeds planted in my papermaker’s garden with drop spindling, and tapestry weaving. Plant-based papers of flax, cotton rag, or hemp are cut into long strips, spun into paper thread, and woven on a tapestry loom. This technique connects me to my interest in ancient domestic practices by women, as well as my father’s craft: floor loom weaving. The drop spindle was given to me by my mother when I was 17 years old. These highly process-based methodologies inform my thoughts on labor and craft practices. The plants I work with ensconce my paper memories and archives from places I will probably never visit again. I describe them as a material autobiography and explore them in their relationship to the land from which they were grown and the people who worked in those places.