New work on the way

New work on the way:

New work is on the way, this is a bit of a taster of whats to come. I will have more news in the next couple of weeks.

All Mapped Out:

>> Isabelle OC beat me to her mapped out post but the origin is the same.  My faithful Acne scarf printed with an old map of Stockholm on it has served me well in the printed map front.  The fresh influx of printed map activity from Carven's resort collection has been tempting enough but when paired with captivating birds of flight made out of maps or pleated map dresses seen at The First Cut paper art exhibition, it only exacerbates the need to get some new mapped out garments in my life.
Claire Brewster's intricately cut-out vintage map birds made me wish I was the sort of person that put away money for a rainy day to buy an extravagant piece of art.  Brewster creates movement and breathes life into old maps and atlases with incisions, mimicking birds in flight, swarms of insects or tropical plants.  They're often installed standing away from the wall or foundation board so that they cast complicated shadows that make the cut-outs look like they're fluttering about on the walls.  I've got my eye on any one of the London map pieces by Brewster to start my spiralling downfall towards being one of those people who say "Oh, I'm a collector..."

Carven is no stranger to maps printed on garments.  Guillaume Henry's girl has always tended to be a bookish creature, travelling in her head by flipping through atlases.  Last summer she was skipping around a bright chartreuse-tinged map of Maine.  This time round, she's closer to her home turf, bounding about an old engraving of Paris.  Now's the time to say cheesy French phrases like "Ooohhh...trés jolie!"  There's no way you can't feel that old cartography printed on to cute blazers, A-line skirts and blouses is anything but jolly/jolie.  The temptation would be to buy the whole lot and skip around the streets of you guessed it, Pareeeee...

Carven printed jacket, skirt and wedges from Matches Fashion, Carven printed dress and shirt from Net a Porter.  
Elisabeth Lecourt is perhaps the most common answer on Google if you search for "map dress".  Her famous series "Les robes géographiques" reach almost iconic levels, when it comes to being blogged and reblogged, so much so that I suspect some people are looking at these flat pleated dresses and wondering whether they're actual wearable garments.  It would be criminal to leave Lecourt out in an exhibition about artists who cut, sculpt and manipulate paper.






Christopher Raeburn made some incredible new strides in his Deploy/Flight S/S 13 collection.  The signature lightweight macs and nylon outerwear is injected with femininity seen in the trapped lace parkas and a delicate looking ripstock lace looking like a camouflage pattern.  The most impressive part of the collection though was the "Remade" element, which is always present in Raeburn's design ethos.  Raeburn came across a cache of old 1950s military escape maps that were printed on lightweight silk so that they wouldn't get destroyed in the rain.  Raeburn didn't even have to transfer any print to a wearable fabric as they were already printed out for him, ready to make playsuits, bomber jackets and dresses.  Up close, it's fascinating to make out the physical geography on the maps but from afar, it's a beautiful print that looks anything but upcycled or reused.  








This 1970s vintage Chloe dress has been hanging around the Merchant Archive website for a while.  What with their starry clientale these days with fans such as Florence "and the Machines" Welch, it's surprising that there's anything left to be honest.  I might falter and give in to this dress anytime soon though if nobody shares my love of this abstracted colourful globe pattern.


Chris Kenny's piece Capella is based on a galaxy formation of found map pieces.  For him it's "a fetishistic accumulation of data" - an observation of human presence in a world divided up by unnatural territorial borders.


Finally, trusty Etsy (which has somehow become more interesting than eBay in terms of unique pieces...) has a mapped out specimen, printed with the highway routes of USA and set into a diagonal window pane shift dress.

Wave of Light

Wave of Light:

When we talk about paper art and techniques, a lot of ways come to mind. One way is the paper folding or what is called origami in Japanese. It has become widely popular and it people can nearly shape whatever forms from boxes, animals and flowers.
Wave of Light designed and owned by Svetlana Senchurova from Ukraine has proven that origami can be so much more than folds. Apart from paper folding itself, forming them into something greater like wreaths and balls can make others view origami in a different light.
Don’t you just adore how Wave of Light made these papers with bright colors? You can also see the intricacy in folding turned into a whimsical decoration.
— April San Pedro
all photos via Wave of Light

Interiors | Eley Kishimoto Rugs

Interiors | Eley Kishimoto Rugs:


Eley Kishimoto has a way with patterns. Their designs have touched almost every type of surface from apparel to wallpaper, and even motorcycles and cars. Their most recent application includes an exclusive line of rugs for furniture store, Aram. The pair have recreated a selection of patterns pulled from their fashion textiles of the 1990s in hand-tufted wool. One of our favorite prints – the flash print – makes it into the mix. Add one underfoot here.
– Jessie Whipple Vickery

eley kishimoto rugs for aram

Papercutpile 2

Papercutpile 2:

Laser cut paper from Swoon Konbit Kickstarter.

The neural map is not the territory of consciousness.

The neural map is not the territory of consciousness.:












External Stimuli : Shannon Rankin, The Map is not the Territory

Paper Dresses

Paper Dresses:
Now for a roundup of pretty paper dresses in all varieties of styles and colors.

• Figure 1: Paper thin ice dress by Lilliput Loft
• Figure 2: Folded paper sculpture by Danielle Hammon
• Figure 3: Making of madame paper dresses by Hattie Newman and Matthew Brodie
• Figure 4: Paper couture dresses by Lia Griffith
• Figure 5: Recycled smock(s) by Rika VanHeerde Snyder
• Figure 6: Book dress by Jennifer Collier
• Figure 7: Zoe Bradley paper dress via Jackson-West

[image credits: all photos via the links above]

unbound by francisca prieto

unbound by francisca prieto:




Whenever we feature work that involves altering books, it stirs up a storm of emotion and discussion. You would think that over the years, I’d have built a resistance to that sort of backlash, but it still makes me nervous, as I brace for impact each time. However, I can’t look at these beautiful pieces from Francisca Prieto and not see the beauty, hard work and skill that went into each one. Francisca’s newest series, UNBOUND, is on exhibition right now at jaggedart in London. UNBOUND turns torn and damaged books, catalogues, encyclopedias and other printed matter into new artwork by deconstructing them to create a new visual narrative. I love the way Francisca considers both the text, images and story of the books when creating each piece. The pieces made from German maps (below) are particularly beautiful in that they look and feel like the topography mapped on the page. You can view more of Francisca’s work right here or visit it in person through November 4th at jaggedart. xo, grace

Cutting Deep

Cutting Deep:

Michael Velliquette’s paper sculptures

Michael Velliquette is a contemporary mixed media sculptor currently working primarily with paper. His sculptures, using vibrant colors and bold forms, are visually and structurally complex. Using paper and glue with gator board (a heavy-duty polyester graphic arts board that is both lightweight and strong, and often used for exhibits or signs) and bristol board (heavyweight all purpose card stock) as understructure, he creates densely detailed and dimensionally complex sculptural collages that are then mounted on the wall. Velliquette carefully constructs these paper sculptures layer by layer, incorporating a range of sizes and shapes, including circles and other geometric forms, simple paper chains, and pieces cut to resemble feathers, all of which he then folds, bends and rolls into place. Several examples of his work can currently be seen in the exhibit Paperwork in 3D at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont through October 30th and at Chromatopia, a solo show at the Lawton Gallery at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay until October 6th.



Velliquette's early work involved various media such as installation, paper sculpture, drawings and ceramics. His current work evolved from his background in mixed-media sculpture and installation, where paper was often only one component among many. He explains: "At the time my work was about transforming conventional craft or building materials into spectacle objects. But as the paper works evolved I began to look for ways to move beyond their inherent flatness to achieve the same sense of immersion that had been such an important part of my previous installation work. I spent time looking at other art forms like mosaic, relief sculpture, collage and other paper-crafting traditions, and I have gone on to incorporate aspects of these forms into my work. The results have been ever-increasing levels of visual and structural complexity."



On being asked how his work might change and in what new direction he might be going, Velliquette said, "In recent work I've been painting the paper prior to using it to construct the sculptures. It's given me a lot of great ideas for marking on the surfaces. It seems like a natural extension of the material with great potential. So, I've also been spending more time developing my drawings in relationship to these sculptural works and am moving towards a greater integration of the two."



His recent work seems to reference religious objects and ritualistic icons such as totems, stupas, altars and masks. He takes inspiration from sources that include dreams, spirituality, world myths and the occult. "The apocalyptic, the mythic, and the decorative are spoken through a method that embraces, by turns, compulsion,, ritual and the fanciful" writes contemporary art historian Michael Jay McClure in Laws of the Unconcious, a book surveying Velliquette's early career. In Awaken And Free What Has Been Asleep, a solo exhibition at DCKT Contemporary in New York City this spring, Velliquette's work was influenced by the practice of sigilization, an occult-based method for developing personal symbols by which the words of a statement of intent are reduced to a formal design.

For example along the margins of each drawing in one series, "Good Ciphers 1-12" are handwritten statements like "Opening to a deeper sense of self," accompanied by gestoral rune-like symbols made from the letters of the statement. Those symbols are then repeated on a larger scale and more elaborately articulated. The sculptural works are also derived from sigils and convey a ceremonial aesthetic. "Meat Eater" appears to be a mask of a creature that is part vegetable, part animal. Works such as "Flambeau" and "Illumine" suggest symbolic lights while "Chromasoul" and "Lil' Orphist" reference the power of color. "Grey Guard," one of his few achromatic works, allows viewers greater access into the complexities of the work's construction. In a New York Times article, "Power Tower" is described as being "shrinelike," as well as being reminiscent of party decorations and grade school art projects. In this show Velliquette's paper sculptures and drawings showed an expanded engagement with ornamental abstraction. His bold new forms evolved from a self-described "rite" of meditation, reflection and drawing, and showed a heightened prowess with the process of cutting, layering and gluing his colored paper shapes.



In Chromatopia, Velliquette shows his continuing interest in the interaction of form and color. The works are infused with aspects of tantric drawing, totems, sacred architecture and votive statuary. Four distinct series make up this installation, including miniature gouache paintings, mixed media drawings, paper constructions and plaster sculptures. A statement from the gallery states that "Collectively, the works are suggestive of relics or artifacts from a culture devoted to the worship of vivid hues and complex patterning."



In a description of his work of 2010-2011, Velliquette states: "For me, these works have partly become an exploration of the way emotional responses can be cued by such basic formal elements as color, line, shape, texture and pattern. But these works also speak somewhat about spiritually driven object-making and devotional ornamentation." He also declares: "I also see my recent works as a reaction against the current economic environment. In times of crisis, people often turn to religion and faith. For me, I draw a similar sense of strength from my studio practice. As the country was drawing deeper into recession, everything I was hearing in the media was about shortage and scarcity. I wanted my work to express abundance and exuberance, and for the viewer to experience an aesthetic of plenitude. I get a lot of inspiration from visual density, and it keeps me feeling positive and energized."



Velliquette lives and works in Madison, Wisconsin, where he is on the art faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has had numerous solo exhibitions around the country, including Awaken And Free What Has Been Asleep at DCKT Contemporary in New York City in the spring of this year, and participated in many group exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad, including Slash: Paper Under the Knife at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City and Psychedelic: Optical and Visionary Art Since the 1960s at the San Antonio Museum of Art in San Antonio, Texas. He also has two solo shows upcoming: at Blythe Projects in Culver City, California in 2012 and at the Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee in 2013. He is represented by DCKT Contemporary in New York City as well as by the David Shelton Gallery in San Antonio, Texas.



For more information, visit www.velliquette.com; www.shelburnemuseum.com;

www.uwgb.edu/lawton.

Michael Velliquette: Lairs of the Unconscious, Devibook, San Antonio, Texas, 2011, available on Amazon.com.