ArtPrize

 The ArtPrize website states 'Designed as a very different art competition, the goal is for the general public and artists to collide, exchange ideas and come away changed.'  We are lucky to have ArtPrize  in Grand Rapids this week, and to have the connection of fiber artists we know exhibiting their work.

Guild member Alice Breese has taken recycled cotton mat board,  a small amount of abaca fiber mixed in for the background sheet and very finely beaten cotton fibers and with these humble materials, created pigmented pulp painting on handmade paper.  These beautiful pieces are currently on exhibit.


The top piece titled Cosmic Dance is at the Holland Area Arts Council on 8th Street in Holland.  The lower piece, Laughing Waters, is at ArtPrize at 38 W. Fulton in Grand Rapids.  

The description of  Laughing Waters as written in Alice's profile on the ArtPrize website follows;

"This piece combines the healing aspects of water and laughter, inspired by the moment after a friend’s passing, when as we all wept by her bedside, someone said, “We need to celebrate her love of the lake.” Together we ran screaming into the roaring surf, replacing our grief with an appreciation for life.

Papermaking is a time-consuming, meditative process during which the hands work and the mind floats. For this piece acid free cotton mat board scraps were soaked, hand-torn, and macerated with an electric hand drill equipped with a plaster mixing bit. Then the fibers were beaten for about 20 minutes in a Holland Beater. The beaten fibers were diluted with 40 gallons of water, agitated, and transferred to the surface of the mold and deckle. The water is then allowed to drain away, leaving the background sheet of paper. Pigmented pulp painting is done while both the background sheet and the pigmented pulp are wet. The artwork is then pressed and dried as a single sheet of paper."

ArtPrize is a show that should not be missed.