Name: Jaz Graf "Root Elevation" Opening Reception
Start: 2023-09-12T17:00:00-04:00
End: 2023-09-12T19:00:00-04:00
Location: Dieu Donné

Jaz Graf "Root Elevation" Opening Reception

For over 44 years, Dieu Donné has explored the untapped potential of hand papermaking as an art medium. We introduce artists from a wide variety of practices to the creative possibilities in hand papermaking, fostering experimentation and creating innovative works of art. Our work is realized through extensive collaborations with artists. We strive to teach a new visual language, providing a transformative experience that often leads to artistic breakthroughs. We are excited share this work with the community through these online artistic and educational programs.

Dieu Donné

Celebrate the opening of Dieu Donné's next exhibition, proudly featuring 2022 West Bay View Fellow Jaz Graf's handmade paper artworks

Join us at Dieu Donné on Tuesday, September 12th from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm to celebrate the of opening of Jaz Graf&#x27;s <a href="https://www.dieudonne.org/exhibitions" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Root Elevation</a> exhibition.Dieu Donné is proud to present Jaz Graf&#x27;s exhibition, Root Elevation. Jaz Graf, 2022 West Bay View Foundation Fellow, works with materials that hold personal, cultural, and historical significance in her hand papermaking and mixed media practices. As she explains, her interest in paper is rooted in “telling a story of Thai civilization along the banks of the river…” – one that explores the histories of fiber growing along those banks, of ancestors’ ashes flowing downstream, of images found at sacred sites, and of paper effigies burned in ceremony. Graf creates forms in paper made from Thai mulberry pulp, incorporating silk fabrics from the robes of Buddhist monks. The artist is deliberate and intentional about the materials she uses, paying homage to the past and her heritage while creating tangible links to her identity in the present. Graf employs imagery in her work including geometric grids that allude to the Buddha’s vision of rice paddy fields, the Hindu goddess Garuda, and lines and curves that mimic aerial views of rivers and deltas. These references allow Graf to explore important cultural icons and landscapes, linking the organic materials in her art to Thai histories. In My Heart is a Flowering Tree, Graf constructed a tiled grid of abstracted jasmine and lotus flower forms made of mulberry fibers embedded into translucent sheets of abaca paper. A common motif of maternal love and respect, the jasmine flower also serves as a direct reference to the artist’s name. Through this self-insertion, Graf actively grounds herself in her roots.In a new body of work centered around palm leaf manuscripts, Graf plays with and disrupts expectations surrounding gender roles in society. She considers the manuscript as a vessel of collective knowledge, but also as an extension of the body. For the Panung Manuscript series, Graf created multicolored paper panels screenprinted in pulp with patterns pulled from her grandmother’s panung (long skirt). This act of inclusion is honorary yet subversive, as women were forbidden to handle many sacred texts. In merging her ancestor’s body into the structure of the book, Graf broadens Thai cultural and historical narratives.More information at <a href="https://www.dieudonne.org/exhibitions" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.dieudonne.org/exhibitions</a>Banner Image: Jaz Graf, Dragon Bird, 2023. Handmade paper from a blend of Thai mulberry, cotton, linen, abaca with aqueous pigment. Approx. 8 x 14 inches. Variable 1 of 3.

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Jaz Graf "Root Elevation" Opening Reception

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Jaz Graf "Root Elevation" Opening Reception

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