The thing I like most about making multiples of the same type of paper object is how they look when grouped together. I made more green succulents this week to balance out the red and orange.

Even though these are fairly small they are beginning to overrun the studio…

At an artist networking event I attended on the weekend I was reminded of a piece of work by Germaine Koh I encountered years ago called, Knitwork. It’s an on-going project she’s been doing since 1992 where she unravels used garments and then re-knits the yarn into one long continuous object.

I’m attracted to this idea of working on a project that grows over time. I’ve been thinking about my flowerbursts as something I want to keep working on and adding to over the long-term, and see where it could end up in two years, or even ten. To date there are about 180 of them, in three different colours. What if there were 500 of them?!

In some ways the flowerburst installation is like working on a quilt, or making a blanket from crocheted granny squares, because it’s also made up of small pieces that combine to become something larger. I like finding these similarities to textiles in my work, though the major difference is the installation doesn’t ever need to be finished and it doesn’t have a functional purpose.

I should look around for other artist projects that are long term in this way. It’s not something I’d seriously considered previously with my own work because I so often work towards a deadline or end goal.

I know this looks like a drawing or even a digitally created design, but it is hand cut paper. The design is cut from white paper and is backed with black. I shared work in progress of this Islamic pattern design back in August, and I finished it a short time later.

In my post-artist residency time I am now figuring out which projects I will resume working on (like this one), and which I will set aside.

I’ve been slowly continuing to work on the installation of paper cut patterns that I started at the beginning of the summer. This are some of the recently completed pieces.

I still have a looooooong way to go before there is enough individual pieces to make a substantial installation.

A few weeks ago I started working on a second paper cut installation made from the remaining seven foot roll of tyvek. It’s proving to be the most awkward thing ever to maneuver around and work on so my progress on it has been slow. This one will be composed of a series of intricately cut circles varying in size throughout the material.

The final photo here is where I reached as of yesterday. It’s going to take me a long time to finish this, but I am determined to see it through to the end.