The Industrial Revolution has, generally speaking, lowered the quality of paper available to artists and art professionals since the nineteenth century. There is a plethora of acidic wood pulp products on the market such as newsprint and low-grade matting products and binder's board. However there is also a broad range of machine-made art papers of highly acceptable materials. On the whole, these papers are consistent in their properties and tend to remain stable over a long period of time. On the other hand, the handmade paper product, be it a work on handmade paper or an artwork fabricated in a hand papermaking studio, is by its very nature open to a broader set of variables that over time may effect its long-term stability. In the interest of clarity, I believe we should consider separately three variants of handmade paper products: an artwork on a handmade paper sheet; the autonomous handmade paper artwork; and the sculptural handmade paper art object. Handmade paper prior to the mid-twentieth century—from those used for Chinese calligraphy at the dawn of papermaking all the way through the European Renaissance and on to the advent of Modernism— was used primarily as a substrate, unified in appearance and secondary to the artistic activity done on it. Artists looked to fine papers to enrich and impart particular qualities to the techniques that they chose to use upon the paper's surface. The paper's Conservation Framing ofinherent qualities were not seen as independent aesthetic statements. In the second half of the twentieth century, artists began to embrace the idea that the paper sheet in and of itself can encompass the qualities and definitions of art and they started to explore hand papermaking as a viable artistic medium. An illustrative case in point is the pioneering work of Douglass Morse Howell. He produced unusual sheets of handmade paper that his contemporaries, such as Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, and Anne Ryan, responded to in their drawing, painting, and collage practices. Even though Howell paper contributed greatly to the aesthetic statement of their work, these artists did not view the papermaking process as an independent artistic endeavor. In the meantime Howell was developing his own creative techniques to produce finished works of art in the hand papermaking process. For the framer, a handmade paper sheet seldom presents more difficulties than a machine-made, high-quality art paper, except for two primary differences: a handmade paper sheet often has pronounced deckle edges which can be an important part of the presentation of the piece; and handmade paper tends to be more textured and wavy. The simplest framing solution for this type of sheet is the float frame, otherwise known as the shadow box. With this type of framing the paper is hinged onto a float mat, with its edges uncovered and unencumbered by a window mat. To keep the paper from touching the glazing, the framer builds in spacers around the perimeter of the float mat. Both a thick and a thinner 4-ply mat can be used in conjunction with spacers. If, for aesthetic reasons, a window mat is desired, a thicker 8-ply "island" mat can be used. This mat does not cover the edges of the paper. To determine the most appropriate hinging solution, it is important for the framer to be aware of the paper's fiber stock. The chemical and physical properties of various fibers react to hinging adhesives in different ways. While most high-quality, machine-made papers use a limited variety of fibers (primarily cotton and alpha cellulose), contemporary hand paper mills use a broad range of fibers, including cotton rag, flax, and abaca, and often mix them together to create hybrid pulps, accentuating the various properties found in each fiber source. Framing a handmade paper artwork is similar to framing works on handmade paper. However the aesthetic qualities of the handmade paper piece can often be quite subtle and delicate. Many artists explore translucency in their handmade paper pieces or incorporate watermarks that have a subdued presence. The framer must take into consideration the aesthetic conditions of the work in order to create the best environment that allows these qualities to be seen. Translucency in particular demands specific and appropriate decisions of mounting and hinging. Abaca and gampi are fibers that produce translucent paper and are very popular with artists. Both fibers have a tendency to repel water-based wheat paste. In addition they have a highshrinkage rate that causes buckling on the front of the paper when the framer attaches hinges on the back. In these cases, the framer can use alternative adhesives: either pressure-sensitive or heat-activated ones, instead of wheat paste, on the side of the hinge that connects to the artwork. Each of these adhesives has its pros and cons. The pressure-sensitive adhesives are usually reversible only with the use of solvents that may stain or altogether ruin the paper. While heat-activated adhesives are often reversible with heat, they tend to become impregnated into the paper's strata. Over the years I have worked with a number of artists to develop unusual framing solutions that maximize the presentation of an artwork's translucency. Often these solutions incorporate different forms of the double-sided frame. One type to avoid is Three ways of hinging artwork (in profile). left: Regular hinge attaching the artwork to the back mat; center: Hinging work with an 8-ply island mat; and right: Pass-through hinge with slit in the back mat. The dotted lines represent paper hinges. 32 - hand papermaking the double-sided mat. This style of framing exerts an enormous amount of pressure on the paper from both sides which tends to create extreme reactions in the paper that besides being unsightly, are particularly strenuous to the paper. A better solution is to have the back mat at a distance from the art with its window opening slightly smaller than the window opening of the front mat. Some artists opt to have the art tipped in between two pieces of Plexiglas. At all times it is essential that a space be maintained between the two pieces of Plexiglas. In an attempt to eliminate the use of hinges that can be seen through the translucent paper, we can tip the sheet at the top with either heat-activated or pressure-sensitive adhesive. With this solution however, the paper can be damaged if we ever need to reverse the tipping. Also, Plexiglas has proven unreliable during shipping and long-term storage. Plexiglas does not breathe nor move with paper like a typical paper-based mounting board. Nonetheless we have achieved some very satisfying presentations of handmade paper artworks in this fashion, especially when the framed pieces are presented in freestanding structures. For works that feature watermarks, we construct light boxes for the paper artwork or attach a light source within the back of the frame. In both of these instances, we must take care to isolate the artwork from the light source with a layer of ultraviolet filtering, either of glass or Plexiglas. Another way to help reveal a watermark is to place a dark mat board behind the piece. Another popular papermaking technique is the lamination of different kinds of pulps. The varying drying times and chemical structures of the layers become evident over time as the piece expands and contracts with the changing relative humidity in the surroundings and inside the frame itself. We must take care to observe the natural inclinations of the piece, over a certain period of time, before we place hinges onto the back of the piece. Generally, we attach the hinges farther into the back of the sheet, away from its edges, than we would normally do, in order to allow the edges of the piece to curl to the maximum amount. By extension, we must construct the frame with spacers that are deep enough to allow for the curl to occur without the paper touching the glazing. While they may seem tough and more impervious than two-dimensional Mel Bochner, Language Is Not Transparent, 1999, 46 ½ x 36 ¾ x 2 ¾ inches framed, watermarked translucent abaca paper on black pigmented cotton paper, mounted in a deep float frame designed by Sullivan Street Frames. Edition of 15 published by Dieu Donné Papermill. Photo: Jean Vong. All photos courtesy of Dieu Donné Papermill, New York. Jim Hodges, Returning, 2002, 15 x 13 each, pigmented abaca, mounted in a doublesided frame (with wooden frame feet) designed by Sullivan Street Frames. Edition of 27 published by Dieu Donné Papermill, Inc. Installation at Hudson (Show) Room, ArtPace, San Antonio. top: Detail of Mel Bochner, Language Is Not Transparent, Note the deep curl of paper due to different shrinkage rates of the abaca and cotton laminate layers. Sullivan Street Frames designed a hinging system and a deep frame box to accommodate the deep curl. Photo: Kat Savage. bottom: Detail of Jim Hodges, Returning, 2002. The artwork is tipped directly to Plexiglas using Beva mounting film. Photo: Kat Savage. handmade paper works, high-relief handmade paper pieces are just as susceptible to their changing environment. The same basic framing principles apply to these works as well. We must design a frame that provides protection for the work, facilitates the work's presentation, while allowing space and unrestricted capacity for the work to change the way paper does over time. I often use strong, pass-through hinges to mount relief pieces. With this method, I adhere heavyweight Japanese paper hinges at the top of the piece, pass the hinges through slits that I make at the corresponding places on the mounting board, and adhere the hinges to the back of the board. This type of hinging can hold a substantial weight yet still allow the piece to breathe. For freestanding, three-dimensional handmade paper pieces, I employ treatments that I would use for any sculptural object. Most often we construct a UV-filtering Plexiglas box that rests on top of a wooden base or pedestal. We recommend a barrier layer of 4-ply mat board between the object and the base of the box to create a pleasing continuity between the work and its housing. For a more finished look, the base can be wrapped in the mat board. In essence a handmade paper piece—whether it is a work on handmade paper, a two-dimensional handmade paper artwork, or a handmade paper sculpture—is a singular, one-of-a-kind object. Finding the best solution for its proper presentation and housing requires patience and a certain amount of trial and error. In my framing practice I make every attempt to follow the conservation standards as they are defined by the Library of Congress, but, in the end, I need to use my best judgment and common sense to balance the preservation needs of the work, the physical and aesthetic attributes of the piece, and the wishes of the artist. Richard Tuttle, detail of triptych, Dawn, Noon, Dusk: Paper (3), 2002, 13 ¾ x 15 ¾ x 1 inches framed, pigment on watermarked abaca/linen paper mounted on pigmented cotton in artist-designed, hand-painted frames fabricated by Sullivan Street Frames. Edition of 20 published by Dieu Donné Papermill. Note the dark handmade paper back mat which clearly reveals the allover diamond-pattern watermark. Photo: Jean Vong. Lesley Dill, Head, 2003, 6 x 7 x 3 ½ inches, cast, die-cut pigmented abaca paper letters with thread, in a vitrine designed by We Support the Arts, South River, New Jersey. Edition of 25 published by Dieu Donné Papermill, New York. This diagram illustrates how the hinge is passed through a slit in the mounting board. The hinge is then adhered to the back of the mounting board.