On entering the gallery, the visitor was confronted by Drew Shiflett's floor piece, Tongues, flanked on one side by her Easel Sculpture #2 and on the other by Jacqueline Mallegni's massive, cocoon-like hanging form, Breaking Through Barriers. This somewhat startling introduction served as notice that this was much more than a pretty paper show. Shiflett's works are curious, precariously balanced, architecturally inspired pieces, with layers of hard and soft textures showing through a grid of cut paper strips. They disrupt any preconceptions one might have about handmade paper art. Mallegni's bamboo and wire structure basks in the soft glow emanating from its translucent kozo covering. The opposite end of the gallery was set off by a fragment of Lori Brink's elegant, 60-piece, labyrinth installation. Its title, Hippocampus, refers to the locus of sensory input in the brain. The tactile, 24-foot-long, undulating screen, which set off a pool of salt and a salt-filled vessel, provided a contemplative boundary space. Unfortunately, the viewer could not enter the installation here but could only walk along the perimeter, limiting the interactive potential of the work. In addition, its placement in front of a window distracted somewhat from its majesty. Within the main exhibition space the works displayed were equally impressive. A conversational grouping of three graceful, elongated, corseted female forms by Julie McLaughlin, melded Victorian propriety with a contemporary fashion and dance sensibility to explore issues of body image. Menopause, Plane & Form at Minnesota Center for Book Arts karen searle "Plane & Form: Contemporary Handmade Paper" Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis December 3, 2005–February 25, 2006 Drew Shiflett, Tongues, 2000, 7 x 31 ½ x 21 inches, handmade paper, fabric, glue, cardboard, wood, polyester stuffing, paint. All photos courtesy of Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis. Kim Matthews, Get Back, 2003, 15 x 28 x 16 inches, commercial unryu paper, lokta paper, reed, iron oxide. summer 2006 - 41 reviews Dancing the Grand Illusion, and Skin Sister, created by draping paper "skins" over welded steel, radiated feminine strength and vulnerability. The exhibition was installed with careful attention to interesting juxtapositions. Mona Waterhouse's Birch Seeds I repeats a single image on delicate, translucent waxed sheets. Embedded wire and subtle coloring provide dimension and an organic depiction of a life cycle. Placed next to this meditative work were Nancy Cohen's ritualistic assemblages of glass and paper, Pocketed and Flue. These sculptures invite a lively interaction with the viewer as partially concealed found objects are revealed through a translucent abaca skin. The rest of the wall was occupied by Grimanesa Amoros's Drawn Skin, an extremely tactile series of wrinkled, skin-like drawings on translucent abaca. A shelf display featured some artist books and small sculptures. The apparent heaviness of Steve Bauer's small, granite-like forms contrasted well with a group of brightly colored, delicate, inner-bark vessels by Jill Powers and a small pod form by Mona Waterhouse. Robbin Ami Silverberg's two works—Black Torah, with its incised letter forms, and I write what I know on one side of the page, and what I don't know on the other (featuring two kinds of paper, one printed, one burned)—explore what words can actually communicate and expose their limitations. In contrast to Silverberg's personal and meditative works, the precise and complex mixed media works by John Risseeuw are boldly political. Evidence, his response to the 2005 London bombings, combines mixed pulps, pulp painting, and embossment to reference chaos. In For Luis and Domingos, from an ongoing project on land mines, Risseeuw superimposed on the paper's surface images, facts, and stories of survivors and victims. Into the paper itself, he incorporated the victims' clothing, African fibers, and currencies of mine-producing countries for additional layers of meaning. The larger sculptures were also impressive. Beth Levin's group of vessels in highly beaten abaca with pigment and natural color are luscious, delicate-appearing forms reminiscent of porcelain or glass, and cry out to be touched. A strikingly different texture is found in Kim Matthews' large pod forms, especially Mona Waterhouse, Birch Seeds 1, 2004, 7 x 4 ½ inches each, handmade paper, wire, pigment, wax. Jennifer Spoon, Japanese Gate, 2001–2002, 25 x 45 inches, handmade kozo and abaca paper with kakishibu. 42 - hand papermaking Get Back and Big Nut. These works, with their complex exoskeletons of twigs, offer an intimate dialogue between nature and the human hand. Lynn Sures' deep wall relief White Sands #12, of cast paper delicately colored, is based on imagery of the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. Also on view was her artist book Variations on the Dialectic Between Mingus and Pithecanthropus Erectus, demonstrating the divergent approaches to handmade paper that may be taken by a single artist. Some of the finest examples of the art of pulp painting were represented in works from Beck Whitehead, Jennifer Spoon, and Margaret Lanzetta. Each artist displays a precise control of this medium, although in vastly different styles. Whitehead's evanescent, thinly layered works are fog-like and mysteriously beautiful. They "read" on a literal level as nature images, yet their subtlety also evokes the fleeting layers of fading memories. Lanzetta's colorful juxtaposition of floral and architectural imagery delights the eye, and amazes with its precision. Spoon's Japanese-inspired imagery, laminated layers, and persimmon-dyed colorant offer an exquisite enjoyment of the subtle complexities of the paper and the beauty of an ancient tradition. Rounding out the sampler presented here were Delectable Mountains: Babel, a woven paper work by Alice Van Leunen, and Dharma Wheel by Ellen Mears Kennedy. The deckle edges of the double-couched papers of the latter work are mounted on edge, offering variant color effects when viewed from different angles. The exhibit was both challenging and inspiring. It presented an effective synopsis of contemporary North American work in handmade paper, illuminating the breadth of technical virtuosity as well as the depth of conceptual approaches. MCBA's foyer gallery space featured an adjunct exhibition of works by Minnesota artists Marjorie Alexander, Erica Spitzer Rasmussen, and Bridget O'Malley. These three artists participated with Jeff Rathermel in "Speaking of Paper," a panel event held during the run of the show. A lively discussion between panelists and the audience centered around the contemporary use of this ancient art form; current innovations in paper and its art-making possibilities for the future; paper's role as an ecological and sustainable medium in this age of technology; and the pros and cons of using archival and non-archival papers in works of art. Beth Levin, Seaweed Vessels (Iodine, Green and Orange), 2004, 8 ½ x 8 ½ x 5 inches each, highly beaten abaca fiber with pigment. Lynn Sures, White Sands #12, 1998, 26 x 46 x 3 inches, wire armature, abaca fiber, flax pulp painting.