The resulting material is almost white in color, soft like a baby's skin, and translucent or almost transparent when light comes through the thin sheets. Pith "paper" has the interesting property of developing an embossed, raised surface when it is painted on with water. During the 1800s, the British and other Western tourists collected many small, Chinese pith paintings when they traveled to China. These historical pith paintings and a few floral decorations can be found in Western museum collections as well as in private collections. The Tetrapanax papyrifer plant can also be found in botanical gardens and private gardens in the West. The Tetrapanax papyrifer plant, known in Chinese as tong cao, is an evergreen shrub or small tree that grows in the mountains of Hsinchu, Miaoli, and other counties in Taiwan. The plant seems to thrive in the mountainous, subtropical regions of the northwestern part of Taiwan, producing solid stems that are large in diameter. Tetrapanax papyrifer cultivation and pith "paper" production were important industries in Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County, Taiwan, during the Japanese colonial period from 1895 to 1945. The Japanese, with their appreciation for fine paper, found this material unique and especially liked the life-like artificial flower arrangements that could be made from pith "paper." Until the end of the 1980s, pith "paper" was cut by hand in small home factories in Taiwan. Afterwards, the pith "paper" industry moved to China. The family of one of the original factory owners in Hsinchu still operates Gisunys Crafts, a small factory in Guanzhou, China, that produces pith "paper" for small craft items, mainly artificial flowers and small cards for painting. Since 2011, there has been a revival of interest in pith "paper" in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Through the Pith Paper Revival project, craftspeople and artists are learning how to cut pith "paper" from experts who are still living and sharing their knowledge and experience. Cutting by hand is a highly skilled technique, and it takes several years to become expert. The tools for cutting are specialized but rather simple in design. A slab of heavy clay, almost like a brick, is used as the cutting surface. Two metal guides of bronze or brass are attached to each long edge of the cutting slab. The thickness of these metal guides is what regulates the thickness of the pith "paper." The cutting tool is a large, sharp, steel knife, similar to a bamboo-cutting knife used in Taiwan. Most pith cutters re-sharpen their knife after cutting just a few pieces of pith. First they cut the stem into four-inch-long pieces. (In the old days it was possible for some craftspeople to cut pieces of pith that were up to twelve inches long.) Afterwards, they cut crosswise a continuous, ultra-thin sheet of pith from each piece. They discard the central core or use it for fishing floats. The continuous sheet of pith can be three or four feet long depending on the diameter of the stem. Pith-cutting craftspeople in Taiwan are starting to devise new techniques and tools to cut wider pieces of pith by hand. I first learned about pith "paper" when I came to Taiwan in 2004 with a Fulbright grant to make my work with handmade paper from plants of Taiwan. My interest in pith "paper" was further spurred in 2006 when paper historian Elaine Koretsky visited me in Taiwan. Together we managed to locate a few Tetrapanax papyrifer plants in the mountains near Hsinchu, but were unsuccessful in finding someone who still had knowledge about pith "paper" production. It was only in 2011 when I met people who had family connections to pith "paper" and were eager to revive its production and use in Taiwan. Among the Taiwanese craftspeople who are currently working with pith "paper" are Kelly Chang and Jerry Chen. Kelly Chang remembers her mother cutting pith and operating a small pith "paper" factory in Hsinchu City when she was a child. Although the family business moved to mainland China, Chang returned to Taiwan to revive pith "paper" production in Hsinchu. Jerry Chen, another key person in the revival of pith "paper," is trained as an industrial designer and runs his own design business. Chen became very interested in using natural materials and making things by hand. He began learning about pith "paper" and started creating artificial floral arrangements with pith "paper" he acquired from the factory in China run by Kelly Chang's family. Chang and Chen now have a pith "paper" studio at the Hsinchu Railway Arts Warehouse in downtown Hsinchu City. Chang is working with aboriginal people in Taiwan, who used to grow Tetrapanax papyrifer for her family's business, to cultivate it again in Huayuan village in Hsinchu County. It is one of the best areas for growing this plant. In fact Huayuan village gets its name from this plant. The newly cultivated tong cao plants from this village will be ready in two to three years to harvest for pith "paper" production in Taiwan. Another key person in the revival of pith "paper" is Kuei-mei Liang, a nature educator and environmentalist living in Taipei. Liang became interested in pith "paper" because of its connection to nature and the environment of Taiwan. She helped to organize and coordinate the Pith Paper Revival project in Taiwan. I wanted to contribute to the project by introducing pith "paper" to international artists. I contacted several artists I know around the world, mailed to them pieces of pith "paper," and asked them to create artworks for the "Pith Paper Revival" exhibitions that were held in May 2012 at the Hsinchu Culture Bureau in Hsinchu City, Taiwan. Besides myself, the artists who participated in the exhibition were: Jan Fairbairn-Edwards, a paper and book artist in southern France; Marcia Widenor, an installation artist using fiber and handmade paper in New York; Cynthia Kaufman, a painter in New York; Gregory Pryor, an artist and art professor in Western Australia who came to Taiwan in 2008 and learned about pith "paper" as an artist in residence at Taipei Artist Village; Roger Tibon, a sculptor and painter in the Philippines who works with natural materials and has participated in several environmental art exhibitions I have curated in Taiwan; Chen Chih Yang, a Taiwanese artist now living in New York City who does installations and performance art with an environmental focus; Yi-chun Lo, a Taiwanese artist who does environmental art installations and sculpture; Hsinyu Huang, a Taiwanese artist who does environmental art installations and mixed-media works; and Yuchiao Lai, a Taiwanese artists who does mixed-media installations, sculptures, drawings, and large outdoor painted murals. These artists created a wide range of artworks that showed the potential of this unusual material. I also contacted international researchers and collectors about the growing interest in reviving pith "paper" in Taiwan. Dr. Mark Nesbitt, Curator, Department of Economic Botany, Kew Gardens, UK; Ifan Williams, researcher and collector, UK; Prue McKay, conservator and collector, Australia; and Elaine Koretsky, paper historian and Director, International Paper Museum at the Research Institute of Paper History and Technology, Brookline, Massachusetts, all generously sent materials and items from their collections to be displayed in the exhibitions in Taiwan. At the press opening for the exhibitions, women who used to work in the Hsinchu factories, now in their 70s or 80s, demonstrated how to cut pith. These exhibitions mark just the beginning of a growing interest in research and exploration of pith "paper" amongst artists, craftspeople, paper historians, and researchers. Future plans in Taiwan include researching the best methods for cultivation of the plant, organizing more exhibitions of contemporary art and crafts using pith "paper," developing an artist-in-residence program, and gathering and publishing complete cultural, historical, and scientific documentation about the plant and pith "paper" production. Pith "paper" is unique and so much a part of Taiwan's history and its past and future culture.

‍