 |
| Jane Ingram Allen standing in front of a
segment of her installation, "Site Maps." This map
is of the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education's trails,
and consists of paper and dyes made from plants around the center
grounds. |
When Jane Ingram Allen came to the Schuylkill
Center in Philadelphia , she had a history of working with environmental
themes, but the artist-in-residence program gave her an opportunity
to work with nature in new ways. Allen was the first resident artist
at the center, which recently adopted the arts as a new method for
reaching out to communities. Through the program, Allen worked on
several installations at the center, including sculptures of birds
and a project with area children, making an "earth-quilt,"
of hand-made paper. The quilt was intended to decompose, allowing
seeds planted underneath to grow in a globe pattern.
 |
| A patch of the trail map, including
a soil sample from the land where the plants that made this
piece of paper grew. |
Papermaking became an important part of Allen's residency. Collecting
leaves from plants throughout the Schuylkill Center's 500 acres, she
cooked it, hand-beat it into a pulp, and cast it as paper. Each plant
species, she discovered, has different characteristics when made into
paper, and none looks or feels like paper bought in stores. Besides
being courser, and more colorful, most of the paper she formed will
not last very long. Allen says many people think about art as permanent,
but she prefers to think of it as constantly changing - and for her,
that's part of what makes it art. Works that are displayed outdoors,
for example, will be affected by weather conditions. She says she
has also started thinking about the impact of her art on the surrounding
ecology. Her paper is made of plant leaves, most of which were collected
in October, after the plants had gone to seed, meaning removal of
the leaves had a minimal impact. Her paper work at the Schuylkill
Center is illustrated with non-toxic dyes from local plants and from
food coloring. She says she's not ready to throw out her acrylic paints
just yet, but she has thought about it.
Allen is moving on to Brazil next, where she has a grant to work
on a bird project, but she expects to discover new plants for papermaking
while she's there. Her latest work, Site Maps, remains on display
at the Schuylkill Center. Using eighteen pieces of paper made from
materials found throughout the Center grounds, Allen created a large
trail map of the center. Each square holds a sample of soil gathered
from the area where the plants live. Surrounding the trail map are
maps on hand-made paper showing other locations around the globe.
The exhibition is on display at the Schuylkill Center through March
1, 2002.
|
