THE LANGUAGE OF COLOR is the title of our fourteenth handmade paper portfolio. In hand papermaking, how we deploy, read, and connect with color reflects where we come from, the reinforced cultural meanings, and where we are emotionally at a given time and place. Through papermaking one can engage with these complex relationships of belonging and otherness, and investigate the nuances of color that evoke a full spectrum of emotion, spirit, place, and culture. Color in paper communicates in ways that we cannot through words, opening us up to connecting with others and transforming our relationship with the material and our community. We welcome proposals that consider the theme both formally and conceptually.

Proposals should demonstrate how the artist plans to use handmade paper in a substantive way as one of the primary mediums. We invite all manner of mark making, dyeing, staining, and other forms of coloring — both on and within the sheet — but preference will be given to submissions that emphasize hand papermaking processes in the development of the image. Each piece should be 10 x 8 inches or less, and no more than 1/8-inch thick.

Requirements

Each selected participant will be asked to produce 125 finished pieces, plus two proofs for the Hand Papermaking archive and for exhibitions. While there is no restriction on additional artist proofs, we do request that artists acknowledge the portfolio project if the artist proofs are exhibited or published, and that artists acknowledge the portfolio project if the artist proofs are exhibited or reproduced in print or online. In the portfolio, each piece will be placed in an 11 x 8½-inch protective folder labeled with the artist’s name. 

The deadline for submissions is October 1, 2021. For more details and information on how to submit, DOWNLOAD THE FULL CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS HERE.

About the Hand Papermaking Paper Portfolio Series

THE LANGUAGE OF COLOR will be the fourteenth in Hand Papermaking’s series of portfolios. Each focuses on a different aspect of the use of handmade paper. The series documents and preserves contemporary examples of distinctive handmade papers, highlights leading practitioners in the field, and also earns income for the organization. Previous portfolios featured decorated papers, letterpress printing, papers from Nepal, photography, watermarks, printmaking, pulp painting, calligraphy, paper engineering, and intergenerational collaboration. Portfolio jurors, curators, and essayists are recognized leaders in the field of hand papermaking and contemporary art.

For more information, or to see sample images from past portfolios, visit our website today. If you have any questions about the submission process or the portfolio project in general, you can email us at michael@handpapermaking.org or call us at (651) 447-7143.

Download PDF of Request for Proposals:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ta1MsSHzb7fxvdD6Yv5_qT8TnhlUcrJX/view

View past portfolios:

https://www.handpapermaking.org/publications/paper-portfolios