D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield displays Washi Transformed exhibit

Aug. 9, 2022 | Matt Conway
mconway@thereminder.com

Washi Transformed at the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts showcases a variety of unique paper-made creations.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo

SPRINGFIELD – The elegant craft of washi is on full display at the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield with the Washi Transformed exhibit. The traveling exhibit from International Arts and Artists will remain a fixture of the museum until Sept. 4.

Curator of Art at Springfield Museums Maggie North explained that the exhibit features 30 artistic works crafted from washi, or handmade Japanese paper. Washi represents an artistic platform deeply entrenched in Japanese culture, with artists creating a variety of unique designs over the past 1,000 years.

“Washi translates to handmade paper … This is paper that is often different characteristically from your average copy paper, which might be made from wood pulp. Washi instead is usually made from the fibers of plants that are natively found in Japan,” said North in an interview with Reminder Publishing. One of the common sources for washi paper is paper mulberry trees.

North said the museum first learned of the exhibit in 2019. After International Arts and Artists completed the compilation process, the exhibit toured the Allentown Art Museum in Pennsylvania and the Longmont Museum in Colorado before making its Springfield debut.

The Washi Transformed exhibit displays the work of nine contemporary artists – Hina Aoyama, Eriko Horiki, Kyoko Ibe, Yoshio Ikezaki, Kakuko Ishii, Yuko Kimura, Yuko Nishimura, Takaaki Tanaka and Ayomi Yoshida. North shared that each artist interprets the washi platform through their distinctive artistic trademark and modernist lens. While washi paper was utilized in the past as a canvas for projects, these artists transform washi into unique art pieces.

“All of whom are using washi in wild, new, interesting and wonderful ways. One of the things folks will be surprised about when they come to the exhibition is the scale of some of these pieces … there folding, twisting and dyeing washi, but they are also creating massive sculptures,” said North.

An artist like Kyoko Ibe combines washi paper with miscellaneous paper scraps to create her designs, connecting sprawling artistic works through uniquely-designed paper joints. Other artists, like Eriko Horiki, roll washi into finite paper strings that are dyed to make abstract sculptures.

“These nine artists present us with variety in terms of technique, in terms of ways they look at the world and the mediums that they are using … the exhibit redefines expectations of what can be made with paper,” said North. Many of the artworks require exacting precision as artists craft designs solely from paper folds, dyes and scissors.

The exhibit features a variety of inventive creations for visitors to interpret. North shared that many of the works draw thoughtful readings from the museum’s various visitors. For North, many of the art pieces make a connection to the world around us through their depictions of nature’s serenity.

One of the pieces from Ayomi Yoshida entitled “Blessed Rain” is making its national debut at the museum after being completed during the coronavirus pandemic. North describes Yoshida’s immersive depiction of rain-decorated washi paper enclosing observers as a meditation on climate change.

“It acknowledges the threat of climate change. For a long time in Japan, rain was thought of as a blessing. It was a phenomenon that helped encourage the growth of crops … In recent years, flooding and rain have also become disastrous. The artist acknowledges that history in this piece but also looks forward to a time [Yoshida] says, ‘When we can all fall asleep peacefully in the rain,’” said North.

North stressed that ensuring accessibility remains a central focus of the museum. Each exhibit features descriptions in English and Spanish, alongside QR codes that provide audio descriptions of the creations.

“We’ve been doing a lot of work in the past couple years to update our labels and really make our labels accessible,” said North.

With Washi Transformed, North aspires for visitors to gain a deeper appreciation of washi’s unique attributes.

“When I think about the many different layers of artmaking that exist in the world, I think papermaking is really one of the more complex artmaking techniques…they are not only making paper, they are utilizing paper in these incredible ways,” said North.

Readers can learn more about the exhibit at https://springfieldmuseums.org/exhibitions/washi-transformed/.

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