Join curator and artist Michelle Samour on Wednesday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m., for a tour of “Paper Made,” an exhibition at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) that challenges assumptions about how paper can be used in artmaking.

Admission to the tour is free and open to all. Registration is optional, and walk-ins are welcome. Register at brattleboromuseum.org or by calling 802-257-0124 x101.

Paper Made

Selected by a jury from the magazine “Fiber Art Now,” the exhibit demonstrates that paper is not only a surface for drawn or printed images, it is also a material that tells its own story. As Samour once wrote about her own work, “paper is the field for discovery.” That holds true for the artists featured in “Paper Made,” all of whom have manipulated hand-made and machine-made paper in diverse ways.

Amy Genser rolls paper into hundreds of multi-layered forms to interpret the colors of the setting sun in “Summer Sundown.” Barbara Hocker’s depiction of water in “Shore to Shore” takes the form of a stream emerging from the spine of a book; translucent waves of paper suggest rushing water. In “par hasard,” Linda Colsh also depicts water, with tracings of creek stones on stitched and stained coffee filters. Barbara De Pirro’s “Blossom” evokes a different image from nature through circles of painted paper that each reveal textured worlds that accumulate and open out into a floral form. Marcia Vogler’s quilted “Time Traveler’s Coat,” which takes the form of a kimono, speaks to time travel and cultural intersections. In the garment “Love My Sugar Daddy,” Virginia Green uses U.S. currency to comment on the female body, desire, and commodity. Weaving together strands of paper and raffia, Libby Raab comments on disintegration and decay in “Good Times,” while, conversely, Karen Gubitz weaves paper into geometric forms to highlight ideas of accumulation and urban life in her piece, “Urban.” Jo Stealey’s “Dusters” evokes the labor and ritual embedded both in the process of making the paper and in its final sculptural form.

All the works in “Paper Made” provide an opportunity to think about how paper can transcend function and express thoughtful and unique visual narratives. The exhibit, presented in partnership with Fiber Art Now, is on view through Feb. 11, 2024.

Samour, the curator, is a multimedia artist with an interest in papermaking and works on paper. Her practice explores the connections between science, technology, and the natural world, and the sociopolitical repercussions of redefining borders and boundaries. She has been an artist-in-residence at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and PRINT Press at the University of Northern Texas. Her work has been exhibited at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Fuller Craft Museum, and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, among other institutions. She lives in North Bennington and is professor emerita of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, where she taught historical and contemporary approaches to working with handmade paper and pulp.

Brattleboro Museum & Art Center

Founded in 1972, the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center presents rotating exhibits of contemporary art, complemented by lectures, artist talks, film screenings, and other public programs. BMAC is open Wednesday-Sunday, 10-4. Admission is free, courtesy of M&T Bank. Located in historic Union Station in downtown Brattleboro, at the intersection of Main Street and Routes 119 and 142, the museum is wheelchair accessible. For more information, call 802-257-0124 or visit brattleboromuseum.org.

BMAC is supported in part by the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by Brattleboro Savings & Loan, C&S Wholesale Grocers, Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters, and Whetstone Beer Co.