Art Workshop - Wind Through the Fibers: Moving Paper Sculpture

Paper is everywhere—but how is it made? And more importantly, what can you make with it? In this workshop, participants will learn to produce beautiful sheets of handmade, decorative paper using both recycled and archival materials. Participants will also learn to harness the surprising strength and flexibility of this fine, thin material to build a moving, “breathing” mobile or other lightweight paper sculpture, such as jewelry or pennants. As we work, we will discuss the metaphors and poetry embedded in this ancient craft, and how we can use them to add deeper meaning to our process and our finished pieces. Participants will leave with a greater appreciation for how fibers run through their lives, and how contemporary artists are making powerful aesthetic work from materials traditionally used for functional purposes.

ANDERS ZANICHKOWSKY is an artist living in Chicago, where he works for Spudnik Press Cooperative. While his formal training is in works on paper, his studio practice is truly interdisciplinary and includes neon sculpture, digital video, performance art, weaving, social practice, and poetry. His work about grief and desire, which has been described as queer abstraction and queer futurism, invites people to celebrate and mourn the lives of individuals who cannot or will not leave the margins of society. He received his MFA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and his BA from Hampshire College.