70 in 70 - Number 9 - Washi Japanese Paper Art Exhibit

 

Quoting from the Longmont Museum’s website describing the Washi exhibit: “For more than one thousand years, Japan has produced some of the world’s finest paper. Japanese paper makers still use the skills passed down through generations to create handmade paper, known as washi. It is used in painting, calligraphy, origami, and other traditional art forms.” The exhibit features the works of nine contemporary Japanese artists – all using washi to create their works “unusual in size, unexpected in texture, and do not fit our expectations of paper art.” A true statement – the works of art were like none that we had ever seen before using paper as its medium for creation.

The works on display included the extraordinarily intricate. Using scissors to cut into black paper the artist, in one piece, actually recreated Voltaire's writing connecting letters with a single fiber! (Voltaire's writing is in the photo on the left below; the photo on the right is of another piece by the same artist.)

 

 

There were works on a grand scale - sailing in the air, nestled on the ground...

 

 Sculptures all made with washi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Wall hangings - so elegant (photo of the full hanging, photo close-up of the center)

 

 And functional pieces of art! Screen panels and lamps! All paper!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Extraordinary craftsmanship and artistry - all based on a technique passed down through generations of making paper by hand. Mind blowing! This 70 in 70 quest is really waking us up to the wonders of the world!