Hark! Handmade Paper Studio

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ARROWMONT SCHOOL of Art

Gatlinburg, Tennessee

MARY HARK

Hand Papermaking Workshop

JUNE 6 - 12

The Nature of Surface:
Exploring the Tactile with Handmade Paper

Master the techniques and tools needed for you to produce a fine sheet of paper suitable for printing, bookbinding or sculptural applications using flax, abaca and Asian fibers. Explore ways of approaching the surface of handmade paper. Lace papers, stitching and collage techniques, indigo and walnut dye, embedding and subtractive approaches to surface development will be explored. Leave with a large portfolio of uniquely beautiful papers as well as abundant information about the fine craft of hand papermaking. Course Fee: $475

Mary Hark is a studio artist, production papermaker and an Assistant Professor of Textile Design at University of Wisconsin, Madison; has been working since 2006 to establish the first hand paper mill in West Africa; founding member of the Kumasi Center for Book and Paper Arts; exhibits and facilitates workshops internationally.

Call 865-436-5860 to register by phone.

OR you may register by fax and mail by completing and sending a registration form.

2010-03-02T13:10:00.008-06:00

College of Saint Benedict Galleries in Saint Joseph, Minnesota, present their collection of Artist and Fine Press Books - and Mary Hark's exhibition SEAM: Paper and Textile Paintings

An evening with friends and colleagues who care about books, paper, art and poetry. Buzz Spector's engaging ruminations on reading and the book object, and the CSB Literary Arts faculty and students energy and enthusiasm. Altogether lovely.

Take note of Ellory Eggermont's paper sample below. Ellory is developing a beautiful paper specific to CSB and in the process is uncovering some unexpected handmade paper history!

2010-03-02T11:53:00.001-06:00

Friday Night Celebration at OPEN BOOK in Minneapolis recognizing book designer, printer and binder Chip Schilling and Indulgence Press.

Driftless Reveries: considering place

2010-01-14T23:25:00.010-06:00

from the series Driftless Reveries: under cover, January

handmade flax and abaca papers, indigo dye, mixed media

from the series Driftless Reveries: early winter #3

handmade flax and abaca papers, indigo dye, mixed media

from the series Driftless Reveries: learly winter #2

handmade flax and abaca papers, indigo dye, mixed media

from the series Driftless Reveries: learly winter #1

handmade flax and abaca papers, indigo dye, mixed media

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three from the series Driftless Reveries: lost and found

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continued from the series Driftless Reveries: Lost and Found

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Flax and abaca fiber, indigo dye, gelatin size.

Artist Book exhibited in Portland, Oregon in conjunction with the College Book Arts Association

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The Assignment: A Juried Exhibition of Artists Books

Organized in conjunction with the College Book Art Association

December 3, 2009 - January 9, 2010

KEJETIA CONVERSATIONS

by Mary Hark and Amara Hark-Weber

7.5 x 7.5 page size / length when opened at a curve 22"

Handmade Flax Paper, Found Coal Grates, Adinkra Ink, Pigments,

Linen Thread. 160 pages ~ one of a kind

In early June 2009, Mary and her daughter Amara were invited to participate in an international artist workshop at the National Cultural Center of Ghana in Kumasi. 10 artists from around the globe, and 10 Ghanian artists set up studios, worked and lived together. The organizers of this event asked that the artists pay attention to the this particular place, to respond by integrating local materials into their practice, and to collaborate when it was appropriate. This book was made with paper Mary made in her Madison Wisconsin studio, along with found local materials: adinkra ink and coal grates. Painted imagery was contributed by Ghanian artist Asokipaala Aberinga, and Ghanian batik artist Dorothy Amenkue carved the stamps that were used with the adinkra ink (both workshop participants).

Kumasi Ghana is a place where powerful histories overlap. It is a place where the intensity of the sun and the rain erode the built environment producing beautiful and evocative surfaces everywhere. It is a place where masterful craftsmen 'repurpose' the dregs of the material world into inventive and useful daily objects. Amara and Mary responded to the accumulation of time and experience that was evidenced everywhere they looked; to the heartbreaking beauty of the common coal grate found in every local market, an ordinary kitchen tool in Kumasi, and to the lively, if not fully understood exchanges between people on every street corner, as they designed and built this book-object.

Exhibition opens Friday January 15, 2010, Overture Center, Madison Wisconsin

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Details from new series of work titled Driftless Reveries, to be exhibited at the Overture Center in Madison, Wisconsin, January 11 - April 4, 2010. handmade flax and abaca papers, indigo dye, mixed media

2010-01-12T20:53:00.003-06:00

Preparing work for the exhibition The Nature of Surface during early January 2010.

Contact / Connect / Collaborate, exhibition opens at The Evanston Art Center, Chicago, Illinois

2010-01-12T20:20:00.015-06:00

Contact / Connect / Collaborate explores the nature of international artist collaborations in a world made permeable by modern communications, technology and travel. Artists from around the world are connecting with their American counterparts in order to examine political, philosophical, sociological and historical issues from both particular and global perspectives. The formats of these artist collaborations vary widely, encompassing video, mixed media installations, performance, prints and textile works. The resulting projects point up the possibilities of creative collaboration without negating the real differences in cultures and situations and express the arts' deep desire to make human connections.

Curated by Beth Hart & Vera Scekic January 10 – February 14, 2010

Participating Artists: Jordan Martins, Joaozito, Lanussi Pasquali * Corinne Rhodes & Guadalupe Victorica * Michele Feder-Nadoff & Kanaan Kanaan * David Carlson, Betsy Stewart, Ashraf Fouad * Chris Lawson & Leang Seckon * Mary Hark & Gabriel Boakye * Jin Soo Kim & Bo Hyung Kim * William Andersen & Maryam Hosseinnia

"Remembering Amara" is a memorial cloth dedicated to Gabriel Boakye's daughter, named after Mary Harks daughter, and who passed away in 2009 from malaria. Textile woven and stamped by Gabriel Antwi in his workshop in Ntonso, Ghana and collaged with handmade papers and other materials by Mary Hark in her Madison Wisconsin studio.

Mary Hark discussing the challenges and pleasures of collaboration as part of the panel discussion January 10, 2010.

Grace Chosy Gallery

2009-04-13T08:43:00.006-05:00

Mary Hark - Recent Work

A solo exhibition of mixed media works will open at the Grace Chosy Gallery in Madison Wisconsin Friday May 1, 2009 . Opening Reception 5 -9PM / part of the Madison Gallery Walk event.

Deggendorf Museum

2009-04-13T08:32:00.002-05:00

Mary Harks work is included in the exhibition "Papier Global - Paper Global" at the Craft Museum in Deggendorf, Germany. 80 artists from 13 countries were invited to exhibit work.

The exhibition will run April 16 - August 6, 2009. http://www.museen-deggendorf.de

The International Association of Hand Papermaking Artists 2009 Congress in Burnie, Tasmania

2009-04-11T21:12:00.004-05:00

IAPMA met in Tasmania March 25 - 30, 2009. Artist Lynn Sures and I met during the New Works retreat at Haystack last September and when we realized we would both be presenting at the congress, we made a plan to travel for two weeks before the meetings began. We both wiggled our way out of three weeks in the middle of the semester and headed to the Southern Hemisphere. Besides the incredible topography, the eucalyptus forests, and most importantly the Aboriginal Artworks we encountered in our travels before the congress, we met and spent time with some wonderful, generous, creative people who introduced us to cultural activity in Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart. At the congress I was invited to present a talk about the project in Kumasi, Ghana that Michael Adashie and I are involved in. I also participated in the trade fair by exhibiting my flax and linen papers. Below is a selection of papers I produced in the months leading up to the trip.

2009-04-11T20:59:00.002-05:00

Lynn and I met-up in the San Fransisco airport March 13th and flew 15 hours to Sydney, crossing the international dateline and losing March 14th altogether. We landed at 7:30 am in Sydney, checked into our hotel and spent the day walking around the city. Three days in Sydney and three in Melbourne before heading to Tasmania. Among many wonderful meetings with artists, beautiful walks around the city and the coast, what stands out as most powerful was the introduction to Aboriginal paintings and sculpture we sought out everywhere we went. These works have captured my imagination and are one of the most compelling bodies of work I have ever encountered. The following are just a few of hundreds paintings we viewed.

2009-04-11T20:18:00.002-05:00

Hosted by Creative Papers Tasmania, a working fine arts paper mill and studio space for paper artists in Burnie, Tasmania, the 2009 IAPMA Congress offered a series of talks by artists from Australia, The Philippines, Japan, Europe and the US, as well as workshops focusing on technical information, a tour of the Industrial Paper Mill in Burnie, art exhibitions, a trade fair and lots of opportunities to meet new friends and colleagues. Below are images of the president of IAPMA, Helene Tschacher of Germany and Michelle Wullouts, director of Creative Paper Tasmania and the person responsible for the great success of this meeting; my traveling companion, Lynn Sures beside one of her pulp-painting / printed art works on display in Melbourne, myself being introduced at the start of my talk and finally Helen Hiebert of Portland, Oregon and Lynn at one of several wonderful dinners at the local Fish and Chips joint - located right on the water in Burnie.

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Three artists at the conference represented the Euraba Artists/Papermakers Studio from the border-town of Boggabilla. Operated by Goomeroi people in Northern New South Wales, this studio produces unique artworks as well as fine papers for other artists. The Euraba artists conducted a workshop and presented a talk that shared the ways in which they have taken traditional European papermaking techniques and made them their own with their contemporary indigenous sensibilities. In the Goomeroi language Euraba means a place of healing, coming from the healing leaves of the Eura tree. Euraba Artists and Papermakers embrace the healing nature of art for their local community and all others who appreciate fine art.

Check out their work at www.eurabapaper.com.au

2009-04-11T19:42:00.003-05:00

There were paper exhibitions associated with the conference in Melbourne, Hobart and Burnie. Here are images of the opening of Tracy Luff's installation SWITCH which was installed in the atrium of a bank building in central Burnie. Helen Heibert and the mayor of Burnie introduced the show. As the evening continued, the conference attendees walked with Dixieland style jazz musicians as they played, between several other art openings.

2009-04-11T19:24:00.005-05:00

Among the workshops offers during the conference, Lynn Sures facilitated a full day class where she shared a wealth of information and practical experience on large scale pulp-painting techniques. In the morning Lynn guided the group as we produced three huge pieces of paper out of New Zealand Flax. In the afternoon Lynn demonstrated her masterful techniques using a pulp sprayer.

2009-04-11T19:11:00.005-05:00

Lynn and I were the house-guests of one of Burnie's local art scene celebrities. Ruth Rees and her studio mate Pam create life-size realistic handmade paper sculptures that can be found all around the town, and are an important part of the Creative Papermaking Tasmania community. Ruth and John Rees put us up - and put up with us! We talked jazz, art, travel, food and family with them - and we left the week feeling we have dear friends in Burnie.

Thank-you Ruth and John!

2009-04-11T18:53:00.004-05:00

Driving from Burnie, Tasmania to Hobart on the southern tip of the island, and then back to Burnie, stopping for some bush-walking in the World Heritage Eucalyptus Forests off the western coast.

From Rag to Pulp to Paper

2009-03-01T16:18:00.007-06:00

100% Linen Rag

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Sarah and Johns's walnuts head to the Southern Hemisphere!

2009-02-21T18:54:00.014-06:00

Flax, linen, walnut, cochineal and indigo

Flax and Linen with Pigments and Walnut

2009-02-21T18:25:00.016-06:00

February 2008 at the Madison Studio

2009-02-08T20:35:00.004-06:00

Preparing papers for IAPMA Meeting in Tasmania

2009-01-06T12:25:00.002-06:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

January 2008 at Madison Studio

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HAYSTACK retreat: New Works, September 2008

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making seaweed paper with Bryant Holsenbeck

2009-01-02T02:24:00.016-06:00

Prairie Grasses: Hand Papermaking for Fine Press

a workshop at the College of Saint Benedict Literary Arts Institute

November 2008

http://employees.csbsju.edu/akonczewski/web/PaperMaking/index.html

Peters Valley Art Center workshop: GARDEN PAPERS, summer 2008

2009-01-02T01:59:00.003-06:00

2009-01-02T01:33:00.005-06:00

Haystack School of Craft workshop:

The Topography of Handmade Paper

first session, summer 2008

2009-01-02T01:25:00.000-06:00

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Seam: recent work by Mary Hark

November 15 - December 15, 2008

Design Gallery, School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

www.designgallery.wisc.edu

Mary Hark's recent paintings combine handmade flax and kozo apers and cloth into an intricate ground, stitched together with thread and built up into a complex stratigraphy with paint, wax, textile dyes, inks, and pencil marks. Large in scale, they appear both delicate and resilient. Their layered surfaces invoke the patina of time: the slow, subtle erosion of a well-thumbed page, the careless beauty of mended clothing, the evocative fissures in an old painted wall. Harks' dedicated study of both paper and textile techniques lends her surfaces a particular depth. She crosses traditional boundries with knowledge and respect, creating a rich and surprising body of mixed-media work. - Jody Clowes, curator, UWMadison Design Gallery

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2005-12-25T21:06:00.002-06:00

Rondo Community Public Library Sculpture

Mary Hark and Seitu Jones

with children from the Frogtown neighboorhood at

HARK! Handmade Paper Studio

scroll down to see project description

2005-11-13T11:17:00.001-06:00

Saturday November 12, 2005 - The Frogtown papermakers continue to work. We have been meeting at 1pm on Saturdays and some Sundays to make the very thin paper skins for the kite forms. The papermakers are becoming very skillful and capable. Everyone understands the process, and the atmosphere in the studio when we are working is GREAT! Collaboration rules as we all work forming and decorating the paper. It has been really productive - and fun! I tip my hat to this awesome team!

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Paper skins drying on Seitu's armatures.

2005-11-05T18:15:00.000-06:00

These Frogtown Papermakers have been meeting the past few weekends to make the very thin, colorful and patterned sheets of paper to be used on the kite structures that artist Seitu Jones and the high school students are building. It is a great group of papermakers - and as you can see from the following photos, they are hardworking, focused, very good at working together and they all have a nice sense of humor. It has been a pleasure to work together and I look forward to a few more weekends of sharing the studio!

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Rondo Community Library Sculpture
Mary Hark &
Seitu Jones
September 17, 2005

ARTIST STATEMENT
Seitu Jones and Mary Hark

In approaching this project we considered who would be the viewers, what the space itself suggested and how to develop a conversation between each of our studio practices. The new Rondo Library is our neighborhood library, located just blocks from our homes. The people who will use this institution are our friends and neighbors – this is a community we have an intimate relationship with.

The Rondo and Frogtown neighborhoods are some of the most richly diverse areas of St. Paul. On the blocks that are adjacent to our homes alone, are families newly arrived from Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Mexico. There are African American and European Americans who have been in the neighborhood for years and there are families recently moved from Chicago and other metropolitan areas. It is a multi generational neighborhood with seniors, and large households of many children living side by side. On any afternoon, walking down the alley near our homes a person hears several languages. Many of us are low income; many of us are dependent on an institution such as this library to be a primary source of access - to technology, to ideas and stories and resources that will fuel our imagination and support our work as new citizens, as young scholars and as participants in the larger world.

We were asked to consider the children’s area for our work. With this in mind we attempted to bring ideas that would have a broad appeal without being simplistic. Thinking of the youngest users of this facility first, but remembering that they will often bring with them parents, grandparents, and caregivers of all ages we wanted our piece to catch the imagination of a multigenerational audience. Of equal importance to us was to find forms that could have meaning for viewers who come from many different cultural origins.

Kites are a universally understood form that can spark the imagination of children and adults. As a metaphor a kite can suggest travel to far away places both real and imagined. While holding the string of a kite in your own backyard here in Frogtown, you can sail far into the wind. Like a good book, like a compelling story – even like spending an afternoon on the internet pursuing a strand of information that you dearly what to find – a kite can take us places in our imagination, while we never actually leave home. The kite as an idea and as a form seemed to us to be both universally accessible and filled with poetic possibilities.

In building a conversation between our separate studio practices, we have defined mutual values that we believe will help to create a warm, inviting and visually engaging space. Though the use of elemental materials - wood and paper, we will play with translucency, color and line. Rich fields of color stretched across complex wooden armatures will overlap as they ride in the space defined in the ceiling above the children’s area. The paper skins will capture light and hold a variety marks that speak of human presence.

Below this chandelier of color and light, is a solid wooden sculptural form that will wrap around a poured concrete pillar. This organic wood structure recalls a dragon’s hump or the fin of a fish. Much like the clouds in the sky can be a source of endless imagination this sculptural form will be a source of continuous discovery with every visit to the library. The sculpture will serve functionally as a bench or large sofa, creating a space for quiet reflection, a small reading group, or for a storyteller. It will will wrap around the post and rise towards the ceiling, culminating in a chorus of richly surfaced , translucent shapes referencing kites. The kite shapes will be suspended by cable from the ceiling, attached directly to the ceiling and attached to the top of the poured concrete post. It is our intention to work with the architect on the placement of the lights.

The wooden parts of this design will be created by Seitu working in collaboration with high school students from the St. Paul Public Schools’ Unidale Area Learning Center. These students will also assist Seitu in the creation and installation of the wooden sculpture.
The paper skins will be created in Mary’s Frogtown Paper Studio. Some of the markings that will be caught on the surface of kites will be drawn from writings and images generated by neighborhood children.

The following photos record the begining of our work creating the paper skins.

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Halloween night in Frogtown

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visiting papermaker Eli Hark, July 2005

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studio assistant Hansi Hark Watchler using the Reina press

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ironwork designed and forged by David Pelzer;
sign designed, carved and painted by Stanton Sears

Hark! Handmade Paper Studio

The Nature of Surface:Exploring the Tactile with Handmade Paper

Driftless Reveries: considering place

Artist Book exhibited in Portland, Oregon in conjunction with the College Book Arts Association

The Assignment: A Juried Exhibition of Artists Books

Exhibition opens Friday January 15, 2010, Overture Center, Madison Wisconsin

Contact / Connect / Collaborate, exhibition opens at The Evanston Art Center, Chicago, Illinois

Grace Chosy Gallery

Deggendorf Museum

The International Association of Hand Papermaking Artists 2009 Congress in Burnie, Tasmania

From Rag to Pulp to Paper

Sarah and Johns's walnuts head to the Southern Hemisphere!

Flax and Linen with Pigments and Walnut

February 2008 at the Madison Studio

January 2008 at Madison Studio

HAYSTACK retreat: New Works, September 2008

Peters Valley Art Center workshop: GARDEN PAPERS, summer 2008

The Nature of Surface:
Exploring the Tactile with Handmade Paper