Kakishibu

Paper Quilt III // 2020
80 x 75.5 inches
Used paper packaging, wheat paste,
fermented persimmon tannins

A series of paper quilts that utilize used and damaged single-use paper packaging for commercial goods (Amazon mailing envelopes, brown paper bags, garment wrapping tissue) that have been flattened out, layered, and patched. The repair technique being used is taken from an ancient Japanese method in which wheat paste is used as an adhesive and fermented persimmon tannin, known as kakishibu, is layered on, strengthening the substrate and creating a natural waterproof coating that oxidizes over time. Here, the time and care taken to repair and restore low value materials that would likely be discarded, transform an otherwise quotidian object into a quiet but radical gesture of resistance.