Angela Davis Fegan

This course introduces students to hand papermaking as both a contemporary studio practice and a historically rich tradition rooted in chemistry, collective labor, and artistic inquiry. Working with traditional fibers including cotton, abaca, and kozo, students will learn eastern and western papermaking methods while exploring the full range of the medium ¿ from pulling sheets and beating pulp to pigmenting fibers, pulp painting, and casting paper into sculptural forms. Through hands-on experimentation, students will manipulate color, texture, and fiber to develop a personal visual language using paper as their primary medium. Coursework engages the material's conceptual possibilities alongside its practical applications, including print surfaces, book arts, and wearable forms. Students will complete a final project that connects material exploration to their broader artistic practice, supported by critique, research, and collaborative studio engagement. Lectures and visits to SAIC's special collections libraries will expose students to contemporary and historic artists working in paper arts, augmenting the technical course content.

This class considers the 'social fabric' as a type of material that can be used by artists and activists to create connections and community. Through collaborative and individual explorations, we will examine the possibilities of fibers/textiles to foster and strengthen community, create social bonds, educate, raise awareness about social and political issues and advocate for change. We will explore banner making, piecework and quilting, using hand sewing techniques and a range of materials. The first half of the class will focus on banner, flag making, and quilting techniques, exploring their histories of collective making and their use in political organizing and activism. The second half of the term will focus on sewing, piecing, appliqué and will consider the digital realm to further objectives of connectivity and communication. We will realize or propose projects that are accessible and can engage the public. Throughout the class, we'll look at historical and contemporary examples of fiber and textiles used to protest, unite, educate, and agitate for change in the USA and beyond. We'll pay particular attention to the ways in which people and communities came together to create these works, and explore connections between art making, community building, and social change. Students are encouraged to articulate and explore their individual interests and draw on their experiences and lives outside the art world and SAIC.

This course introduces students to hand papermaking as both a contemporary studio practice and a historically rich tradition rooted in chemistry, collective labor, and artistic inquiry. Working with traditional fibers including cotton, abaca, and kozo, students will learn eastern and western papermaking methods while exploring the full range of the medium ¿ from pulling sheets and beating pulp to pigmenting fibers, pulp painting, and casting paper into sculptural forms. Through hands-on experimentation, students will manipulate color, texture, and fiber to develop a personal visual language using paper as their primary medium. Coursework engages the material's conceptual possibilities alongside its practical applications, including print surfaces, book arts, and wearable forms. Students will complete a final project that connects material exploration to their broader artistic practice, supported by critique, research, and collaborative studio engagement. Lectures and visits to SAIC's special collections libraries will expose students to contemporary and historic artists working in paper arts, augmenting the technical course content.