If there was ever an infinite potential recognized in a common material it is the result of the musings of Susan Kristoferson and how she works with paper.
With a substantial educational background in the fine arts, Susan applies her wealth of knowledge to creating in ways that are unlike any others.
"It is a moving target for me," explains Susan.
"There is always some other scheming that is going on in my brain."
Her skill set in paper arts is evolved from a training and background working with fabrics and yarns. She collects papers from around the world, much like a quilter tries to fulfill the insatiable desire to experience as many forms as possible.
Currently, she takes paper that has been crafted by other artists, and modifies it drastically to make it her own.
(to view more of this artist's work, click the image)
"I have shifted away from cloth and yarn into paper which I now hand paint or hand die so that I can make things from them.
"While there are hundreds and thousands of exquisite papers around the world, they are not enough for me."
"With processes I use I can make patterns, colours, textures in any value or scale that I need to create images," explains Susan.
"Recently I have been making landscapes, but I also do abstract images. Then I am often drawn to 'what else could I make from paper?"
Susan answers that question all of the time and in a big way. From book binding, to origami, the demonstration of her paper art creations seem endless.
Her recent collection involves a series of paper lanterns that are lit up from the inside to illuminate her hand tie-died talents.
Susan says she is constantly on the look out for new techniques and tools. With an ever expanding desire to grow her craft, it is a never ending journey.
"Right now I am interested in eco-dying contact prints for paper. It is natural dying so it is using flowers or leaves or soil to get colour."
Although she finds inspiration from several sources, Susan says it all comes back to a representation of her interest in relationships.
"We look out across the last bit of prairie, the foothills, and the rocky mountains of south west Alberta.
"Because of this vantage and the picture windows of our house and from our little ten acre property on a hill top, the light changes because of the clouds or the sun rising or sun setting and that just fascinates me."
"How that can change in a blink. 60 seconds, 30 seconds and it is different.
"And that keys into my interest in how relationships change.
“The relationships can also simply be colours and shapes.
"So when I am making an abstract image, that plays into what is going on with changing relationships.
"Even though it seems like I am doing different things, they almost always touch back on that."
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