The Potential of Paper-Fibre Artists, Paper Makers, & Sculptural Forms
Fafnir Adamites-Papermaking: Sculptural Forms & Conceptual Work
Through Fafnir Adamites using repetitious processes such as felt making, papermaking and papier-mâché, she engages with and meditates on the concepts such as challenged intuition, personal wayfinding, and transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. During her Studio Grant Residency, she expanded her sculpture practice to study making forms cast with pigmented, handmade paper. Such sculptural works act as monuments and reminders of trauma, intuition and the legacy of emotional turmoil inherited from past generations. Embedding meaning in both the materials and the repetitious processes plays a key role in building the conceptual backing of each piece for the artist. Fafnir Adamites stated that she enjoyed exploring ideas of husks, shells, and hollow forms, to challenge herself, the paper to hold onto large-scale forms. The artist connects the material to her concepts through research and counter monuments which are monuments or memorials, a form of legacy for what went before.
Left: “An Unavoidable Step in the Process”. 7.5′ x 7.5′ x 7.5′. Paper. Right: “The Unwitting Reception of Someone Else’s Secret II”. 9.5′ x 9.5′ x 9.5′. Paper
Background: “Hesitant Moment Between Onset and Completion”. Series of 3 forms each approximately 80″ x 25″ x 30″. Paper. Left: “The Unwitting Reception of Someone Else’s Secret II”. 9.5′ x 9.5′ x 9.5′. Paper. Right: “An Unavoidable Step in the Process”. 7.5′ x 7.5′ x 7.5′. Paper.
Paper sculpture
Paper sculpture
Artist Statement
Using traditional craft processes such as felt making, weaving and papermaking I create sculptural and installation work that serve as meditations on trauma, memory and the legacy of emotional turmoil inherited from past generations. The theory that anxieties and traumas are embedded in a person’s DNA and are then passed down to the next generation is a major motivation in my artwork. Using repetitious processes such as felt making allows me to physically engage with and meditate on the concepts I am working with. Material exploration is the starting point for all my work and plays a key role in building the conceptual backing of each piece. There is a Sisyphean element to both the physical labour and the conceptual ideas. Retracing the path of ancestors, repeating personal patterns, physically tracing the words from a written text – acknowledging both my place as a maker within this context and the irresolvable nature of the concepts themselves.
According to curator Sarah Freeman, “Adamites’s installation of felted wool and burlap feels overwhelming and potentially suffocating… However, the use of highly tactile materials and repetitive, contemplative techniques allows the work to function as a tool for acknowledging, examining, and making sense of painful memories and experiences, thereby diffusing them.”
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