At an opening of printed Pulp Paintings, limited edition of 25, on my11" X 8 1/2" rag paper.
Matted 14" X 18" on 8-ply rag board.
DENE ROSS
Born in NYC
Lives and works in NY and Georgia
.
As a papermaker, making 3 feet by 4 feet pulp paintings from old cotton blue jeans, white cotton rag and pure pigments, I am trying to do my part to reuse and make something new from what already exists on our planet.
I use a Hollander beater to make the pulp, a machine developed in 1680 that uses a roll of steel blades and water to macerate woven fabric into paper pulp.
I pigment pulp in separate containers and test-dry each for color saturation. Working from a sketch, I apply pulp to one of my two moulds, either 22”X18” or 37”X47” which contain my signature as watermark. I build each piece from underside to face, making the work pigment saturated. My method of dispersing the pulp results in an artwork of even thickness. In the final steps, I drain the water, then use fans and weights to dry and flatten the finished work of art.
In the 37”X47” works, the first nine of the Jeans series use embedded cotton from Georgia fields for the clouds. A couple, represented by the shell of two embedded pairs of blue jeans, is looking at the landscape.
Papermaking as an art form is relatively new. The first handmade paper was made in 105 A.D. in China from mulberry tree bark, hemp, jute and people’s clothing rags and was used for keeping court records. As papermaking made its way around the world, the primary use of paper remained record keeping. In the 1500’s rag paper began to replace animal skin paper such as parchment and vellum. Rag paper was preferred for the printing press.
The 1680 invention of the Hollander beater greatly reduced the time it took to make cloth into paper pulp. Paper became readily available by the end of the 19th century, after the invention of the Fourdrinier machine, which made paper from wood.
However, in the mid 1970’s librarians cleaning Harvard’s bookshelves discovered that the wood pulp paper in books from the 1900’s on was decomposing due to its high acidity. At that time I was a printmaker and photographer. Paper was the base of my work and I was concerned about its longevity. This led to my interest in finding a way to make paper that would last.
Using Dard Hunter’s book on papermaking, I began to experiment, and to research archival processes, pigmentation and plant chemistry. I used natural dyeing techniques learned from the Navajo blanket weavers I spent a summer with, and the Chinese techniques of embedding organic matter such as flowers and leaves.
The first papers made with 100% white cotton pulp were embedded works, with fresh flowers or leaves and natural dyed yarns and threads for line and design. I constructed a mould 20”X16” with my signature in the right lower corner as the watermark. When I began to pigment a mixture of rag and linen pulp, I developed my craft by using differently pigmented pulp to create landscape imagery.
Texture is a very important aspect of my paperworks. My challenge is to create precision and depth in a medium characterized by its lack of definition. The impact of the textured surface is hard to convey in digital reproduction.
I have a deep respect for the land and its complex beauty and resources. I have a strong concern for preserving the earth. In my art I try to capture the divine tapestry of landscape formed by the harmony of colors, shapes and textures. My goal is to instill joy and to challenge the viewer to observe the everyday world with a renewed respect for our planet.
CV
Education
M.A. Art Education,
Thesis: Photomontage Photography: as Explained and Discussed in the work of Barbara Morgan
College of New Rochelle, NY
B.A. Fine Arts
Hunter College, New York, NY
Grants & Awards
2019 Awarded Arts Alive Grant for "Amalgamated Portraits of Heroes and Icons as a Nine-piece Handmade Paper Quilt" for Riverside High School, Yonkers, N.Y.
2018 Awarded Arts Alive Grant for "An Ode to Antiquity: Digital Self-Portraits on Handmade Paper with Laser Cut Mats" for Riverside H.S., Yonkers NY
2017 Awarded Arts Alive Grant for "A Marriage of the Old and the New: Papermaking/Bookmaking and Digital Art" for Riverside H.S., Yonkers, NY
2016 NYSATA Region 7 Professional development for art teachers "Artists Building Community"
2010-2012 Adjunct Professor, Graduate School,
Papermaking for Art Therapists, Art Educators,
College of New Rochelle, NY
2001, 2000 Artist in Residence,
Pierre Van Cortlandt Middle School,
Croton-on-Hudson, NY
2000 Resident Artist-Spring, created original artwork,
New Rochelle High School, NY
2000 – 2010 Silvermine School of Art, Outreach Program, writer collaboration, Norwalk, Ct.
1999 American Community Schools, Elementary and Middle, St. Catherines British Embassy School and Campion High School,Recycled Papermaking,
Visiting Guest Artist, Athens, Greece
1998 Queens Museum of Art, Papermaking History and Techniques Teacher Training for Art Teachers, District 28, Queens, New York
1997 “Arts education: A Common Ground for Learning”, Conference sponsored by NYS Alliance
for Arts Education and NYS Council on the Arts, Papermaking Open Studio,
Palisades, NY
1996 Loyola U. of Chicago Rome Center, St. Stephens School, Southlands, English School,
Kendale International Primary School, Castelli International School, Recycled Papermaking,
Visiting Guest Artist, Rome, Italy
1994 to present Westchester Arts Council, Papermaking Residencies, Arts Excel Residencies, Empire State Partnership Grants, Community Grants, Westchester County, NY, Dieu Donne Papermill, New York, NY
1993 Artist in Residence, Papermaking,
The Tallahassee Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
1979 -2008 Papermaking History and Techniques, New York Botanical Gardens, Bronx, NY, Mamaroneck School District, NY
Selected Exhibitions
Kirbo Gallery Firehouse Arts Center, Bainbridge, GA 2020
Jimmy Harrell Gallery, Bainbridge, GA 2019
Haley & Steele Gallery, Boston, MA 2018
Bull City Art & Frame Company, Durham, NC 2018
Blue Door Art Gallery, Yonkers, NY 2017
JCC-Mid Westchester Y, Scarsdale, NY 2017, 2014
Growlers, Croton, NY 2016
Spring House, Tallahassee, Florida 2015
Lazarus Gallery, New Rochelle, NY 2014
Atelier at Attapulgus, Tallahassee, Florida 2013
Gallery 52, Rye, NY 2012
College of New Rochelle Faculty Exhibit,
New Rochelle, NY 2011
Noel Fine Art, Group Exhibition, Bronxville, NY 2010
Best Works 40th Anniversary of Graduate Art Alum/Faculty Juried, College of New Rochelle, NY 2009
Imari Arts, Hudson, NY 2006
ASK Gallery, Kingston, NY 2005
The Art’s Upstairs, Phoenicia, NY 2005
Castle Gallery, “Once Upon A Time” 100 years, The College of New Rochelle, NY 2004
Rhine Hudson Bridge Exchange, Cologne, Germany 2003
Li Daniels Galerie D’Art, Rosendale, NY 2002
Rhinebeck Art Fair, Rhinebeck, NY 2002
Executive Suite Exhibition, Westchester County Executive Office Suites, NY 1999, 2000, 2001
Open Studios, Westchester Arts Council, White Plains, NY 1999, 2000
YM-YWHA Herbert Mark Newman Theater, Pleasantville, NY 1999
Nordstrom’s, The Westchester, White Plains, NY 1998
Art Place Gallery, New York, NY 1994, 1995
The Bank of New York, Bronxville, NY 1993
HRCA at the Hammond Museum, North Salem, NY 1992
College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY 1980, 1991, 1992, 1996
West Room Gallery, Yonkers Educational Cultural Arts Center, Yonkers, NY 1991
The Tallahassee Gallery, Tallahassee, Florida 1989
Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY 1982
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana 1982
Incorporated Gallery, New York, NY 1981
Bridgeport Museum of Art, Science & Industry, Bridgeport, Connecticut 1980
The 28th and 29th Annual Art Exhibitions, Woman’s Club of Rye, NY 1980, 1981
Bloomingdales Department Store, White Plains, NY 1980, 1981
Westlake Gallery, White Plains, NY 1980
The Playhouse Gallery, Westport, Connecticut 1979, 1980
The Night Kitchen, Lake Peekskill, NY 1979, 1980
Gallimaufry, Croton-on-Hudson, NY 1979
Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana 1979
The Nature Conservancy, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 1979
Tulane Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 1979
Publications
There are numerous publications about my artworks and about my teaching.
Furnished upon request.
ALL PULP PAINTINGS ARE FOR SALE.
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