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Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) Northern Point Study, 1950 Watercolor on paper Collection of the Wyeth Foundation for American Art

Ashley Bryan

Ashley Bryan Untitled (Flowers with Bird) Oil on canvas Collection of the Ashley Bryan Center

Following his retirement from Dartmouth College in 1988, Ashley moved to his home in Isleford year-round.

Marie Watt

East Meets West Summit, 2014

Mildred Thompson

Zylo-Probe, ca. 1975

Found wood

Andrew Wyeth

Gull Over Bar Island, 1939

Ashley Brian

Children's book illustration

1974?

Is not this mountain like a flower, with its petals of hills, drinking the sunlight?

Ashley Bryan

Mountain View

1967

Linoleum print with gouache

Kimura Yuko

Edo Sky II

2020

Etching, monotype on antique woodblock book pages from Japan, thread

"In many of her collages, Kimura colors her papers with indigo dye (Japanese: 靛) of varying shades and blends in old, worm-eaten (Japanese: mushikui 虫食い) pages from Japanese printed books, including astronomy manuals and guidebooks, to add layers of cultural, literary, and visual references to her collages. In this work, she etched markings onto handmade kōzo (mulberry fiber paper) and creates a rhythmic pattern of spheres across the surface of the work using images from the pages of an astronomy manual from the Edo period (1600- 1868), resulting in a richly textured work that connects time and space."

Kimura Yuko

Indigo Mushikui II

2020

Etching, monotype on antique woodblock book pages from Japan, collage

"Mushikui (Japanese: 虫食い - literally "insect nibbles") is the Japanese word for the insect damage or "wormholes" made in paper. Kimura first encountered mushikui about 15 years ago when she found some worm-eaten Japanese prints at an antique book fair. Usually such damaged prints are less valuable, but to her, the irregular shapes and texture created by the insects eating their way across the paper resonate with the Japanese aesthetics of wabi (Japanese: 侘び) and sabi (Japanese: 寂), which celebrate the beauty of imperfection and age, respectively. In this work, Kimura has pieced together insect-eaten old pages of text and her own handmade paper printed with hatched lines and dyed with deep blue indigo, to create a homage to imperfection and impermanence."

Horiki Eriko

Six-Panel Folding Screen

2019

Washi paper and steel frame

"Horiki Eriko works with washi paper on a large scale, forming walls or room dividers out of single, large sheets of textured paper. The sheets contain kōzo, or mulberry fiber paper (Japanese: 楮) that have been carefully positioned to create patterns when revealed by lighting. They also are layered and subtly colored to create specific moods and environments, a modern tribute to Japan's traditional paper and wood screen doors, or shōji. For this exhibition, she has created a six-panel folding screen, or byōbu, an element of traditional Japanese interiors that can divide and change the space of a room as well as provide it with decoration. It is at once furniture and art. This by bu features a central design of a large flower, which is beautifully emphasized when the screen is lit."

Table Lamp

2016

Washi paper, acrylic, light fixture (steel)

"Horiki's smaller scale three-dimensional creations resemble her large-scale works in that they feature textured washi with designs and patterns that are revealed through lighting. Though they may serve as lamps in modern interiors, contributing to distinctive atmospheres in architectural spaces, as illuminated works of washi paper sculpture they are also unique artistic creations in their own right. This table lamp features geometric patterns that are sparse in the upper section and denser below, creating a gentle gradation in the quality of light emitted."

Yoshida Ayomi

Blessed Rain

2021

Installation: woodblock printed ink on indigo-dyed washi paper

"For over 20 years, Yoshida Ayomi has been creating room-sized installations for museums and galleries in Japan and the United States. Typically combining abstract printed and painted elements on washi paper, she uses these organic natural materials to recreate the outside world within an enclosed space, often with the intention of spotlighting environmental issues. With this work, she encourages action to stop the climate change that is causing annual rain-related disasters in Japan.

"Japan has always been a land of plentiful rain. For this reason, the Japanese have built their culture around living with the rain. Many woodblock prints from the world of ukiyo-e (Japanese: 浮世絵 - literally "pictures of the floating world") depict scenes of rain, in which people are shown going back and forth in a lively manner in the midst of the rain. Back then, rain was not seen as depressing weather that brings natural disasters. In the Edo period (1600-1868), rain was seen as a blessing in Japanese life and culture.

A few hundred years later, Japan's heavy rains bring with them annual disasters, including landslides, floods and long periods with no sunshine due to prolonged rain. Our view of rain has changed. Today, we see it as something that brings with it disaster. This is not only the case in Japan. Many countries throughout Asia and Europe are facing the same problem.

In this installation, I use the same traditional woodblock printing techniques used in Edo-period ukiyo-e prints to depict today's rain. I believe we have to think about what we need to do to ensure a better tomorrow, in which we can again all be lulled to sleep by the peaceful sound of the falling rain." - Yoshida Ayomi, 2020"

Ikezaki Yoshio

The Earth Breathes Mind Landscape 06

2008

Kizo (mulberry fiber paper), charcoal powder

"In his washi paper sculptures, Ikezaki creates piles of his handmade washi paper and presses the sheets together, sculpting them into abstract forms that express "his wish to capture a trace of the enormous energy collision that happens in nature." Many of these works are also infused with sumi ink and resemble lava flows, ancient tree bark or textured rocks."

Nishimura Yuko

Stir

2006

Folded paper

"Creating three-dimensional concrete forms by folding one piece of paper is traditional Japanese origami, and I use this essential ‘folding’ technique in my work. However I create large scale paper relief sculptures composed of narrow pleats that are made by repetitive creasing and folding, which result in accordion folds. Consequently my pieces are both two-dimensional and three-dimensional in form. These basic accordion patterns are altered by introducing different curves to each fold which change the angles of the patterns and by changing the lengths of the basic folds. These changes produce patterns that become very complex and that create a very different overall surface design. The effect created by the shapes of the ‘mountain-folds’ and ‘valley-folds’ represent, for me, the boundaries between light and shadow in the universe - my own form of chiaroscuro - which I am obsessed to express.

I am very particular about using white paper because white washi, traditional Japanese hand made paper, has special significance for Japanese people. For example, one piece of kaishi (small folded squares of washi used by guests in the tea ceremony) placed on the tatami mat floor is an immaculate space for placing sweets for the guests. I want to invoke this sense of the distinctive purity of white paper that is so much a part of Japanese culture.

Japanese people perform the act of folding unconsciously in daily life because it is a practical form of ‘compacting’- such as in folding screens, folded kimomos, beautifully folded money holders, shide (folded zigzag-shaped paper streamers often used to adorn Shinto-related objects), the famous origami paper cranes, etc. In Japan many of these folding traditions derive from someone’s happiness or the hope for good fortune. I have also realized that the similarity between the Japanese words 折 (fold), and 祈 (pray), and the words 誓 (pledge) and 哲 (philosopher) all embed the character 折 (fold). There is a no clear evidence that there is a connection between folding and praying, but it is hard to assume that this is a mere coincidence. After realizing these connections, I think that folding is not only a practical act, but is also related to praying.

Because I believe that these ordinary practices and forms that have been handed down through the centuries have deeper and hidden meanings, I like to think that my work represents a synthesis of our culture and our art."

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