Summer 2024 - ongoing
I had been drinking celery juice every morning for two and a half years when it dawned on me I could probably make paper from the pulp. Everything that was troublesome about celery fibre in flat-sheet papermaking, I couldn't wait to explore three-dimensionally. When thick, celery fibre gets hard and dense as plastic, and when not constrained, the different lengths and types of fibre distort and pull at one another creating lots of movement.
I began making sculptures with individual segments attached together, then realised I could make stronger forms with one single sheet, so made bigger frames. Each piece starts with a vision for a shape, then I guide the pulp accordingly, allowing for the surprising twists and turns of air-drying that produce organic character. I then mix up natural earth and mineral pigments in plant-medium and paint the form, knowing that rewetting will put the piece through further transformation as it dries.
I like to think of each sculpture as a page ripped out of an illuminated manuscript come alive, expand, twist, flush with colour, then reform into a little domain honouring the regenerative life force that makes the sun shine and bodies heal.
The pieces above are: Large red 'Gifts'. Large green 'Cradle'. Small lilac 'Wringer'. Small grey 'Resurface'. Small brown and yellow 'Asking'.
Large sculptures hang on a wall and are from 50cm long to 20cm deep. Small sculptures sit on flat surfaces and are from 20cm long to 10cm deep. Both paper and paint are archival, meaning they can last for hundreds of years if kept dry. Sculptures are for sale from €200 to €400, plus p&p. To enquire please email: aoifefia@outlook.ie