PAULA NEES - VISUAL ARTIST
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Rasa Book Project
In India the term, Rasa, translates as “the essence of a thing,” and is associated with the delight a viewer experiences when in the presence of an artwork. I consider this creation a "book" as it invites the viewer to turn the pages to reveal images and designs as well as touch and smell the surface materials. Mounted on a wall the book's pages hang like large sheets from wooden dowels. The book opens from either end and the center page is essentially the opening of a large flower created from individually dyed petal shaped papers.

Photography by Rob Colgan: Rob Colgan Photography

Studio images: The process of creating the Rasa Book involved working with natural dyes (indigo, turmeric, and other vegetable colors) and materials brought back from India. While traveling in India with a student group from Otterbein University I was introduced to methods of dyeing and printing on textiles and paper during workshops organized by the Sanskriti Foundation, New Delhi. I adopted some of these methods in my studio work - dyeing cotton sheets and papers as well as using wax resist on materials to create patterns.

Indian paper impressed with banyan leaves and cake of indigo pigment
Vat of indigo dye.
vat of indigo dye
tub of beet dye
dyed paper petals
cotton cloth drying in studio
detail of cotton cloth dyed with beet and printed with a wax resist
Indian papers with block printed design
detail of paper patterns with vegetable dyes, wax resist and saffron
detail of paper pattern with spices
paper patterns being assembled
pattern page construction
pattern page lit from behind
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Picking Out Gems, 2015
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detail: Picking Out Gems rust dyed textile with glass beads, mica and graphite
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Land Marks, 2016  Pigment dyed fabric with sanded and burnished marks. Platform with clay and sediment from the Badlands,
108" H x 105" W x 4" D (platform 108" W x 13" D)
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Land Marks installed at Fort Hayes, Shot Tower Gallery, Columbus OH, March 2016
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  • Home
  • Painting
  • Works on paper
  • Recent Exhibitions
  • Book arts and textile works
  • Installations
  • Contact
  • About Paula
    • Biography
    • Resume
  • Commissions