Dottie Erwin-Legendre: Paper Expressions explores the full, expressive potential of handmade paper. Malleable and natural in the formative state, paper in the artist’s hands becomes an impression of nature, imbued with meaning. The fluid and organic medium is cast, colored, shaped, and layered to create serenely powerful, sculptural work. Textures and contours interplay, submerging and surfacing, vanishing and reappearing. Erwin-Legendre’s work transforms utilitarian into aesthetic, inviting the viewer to experience its subtle complexities.
Artist Statement
The creative process begins its tangible form on paper: the jotting down of literal musings, notations for music and dance, sketching of artists and architects. Preliminary, but what does paper offer as creation in itself? As a graphic designer the vast variety of commercial papers available to me and the print world, is important as a vehicle for information, but paper also becomes a design tool. Learning the process of papermaking by hand opened the possibilities of paper as art. So, it began. The malleable medium is composed of any plant fibre, is processed then formed, offering many modes of artistic expression. The textural and sculptural forms, the additions of color and possible inclusive materials, all invited exploration. For me, it’s about the deckle edge – the fascinating properties of that fine line defining the end of the tangible with infinity, its collecting of color pigments, and its feathery, irregular existence. That edge is the decisive element that I use to express my subject matter. A connection to nature with nature.
Opening Night
Thursday, October 1 | 5:00 – 8:00pm
Meet the artist at an extended-hours event. Timed-entry, advanced-purchase admission; social distancing; and masks are required.
General Admission: $8 Adults; $5 Students; FREE for Members. Become a member today!
Artist Talk
Friday, October 30 | 12:00 – 1:00pm
Join the artist for a virtual discussion of her work and process. The event is FREE and open to all.