Melissa Cowper-Smith

Looking at my recent series of pigment prints on handmade paper, you notice the irregular edge of the paper and the bright colors of brush strokes. After a moment, rooms and landscapes become visible. Floating across the spaces are pieces of antique lace, strands of horse hair, or a strip of cloth torn from an old shirt. There are areas of light and shadow, like clouds passing on a sunny day.

It’s as though you are remembering a place, a time, a moment that you can’t quiet discern. Like trying to return to a dream you’ve awaken from. The objects and spaces seem ordinary, but you are left with a sense of searching, watching, and waiting. These places feel lonely. You might notice crosses, stars, and figurines. Objects meant to comfort and remind us of our connections to one another.

I made the paper with medicinal plants as well as other plants from my own garden- cotton, hibiscus, and mulberry. I created paintings based on the photos I’d taken. After scanning the paintings, I used a computer to blend the photographs and painted imagery. Then I printed the images on the handmade paper using a large format HP printer with pigment inks. The images were selected and adapted to best fit the composition of the paper. Some of the pieces were coated in encaustic (resin and beeswax).