Lena Wolff

As an artist, I am informed by an interest in folk art, anthropomorphic fables, allegory, organic abstraction and veneration for the natural world. Using paper-cut, collage and pinpricks on paper, I work to construct textured and layered images that appear otherworldly and fantastic.

My approach to paper borrows from textile processes as much as it does from drawing and painting.  By working on the front and back-side of the paper, the surface is handled by hand as if it were fabric and often multiple panels are joined in a single piece to make paper quilts.

Pinpricks on the surface of the darker pieces are especially affected by light. These darker backgrounds are made by building up thin layers of gray paint on paper which is then rubbed with powdered graphite. The surface is punctured with a needle and finally hand-painted cut and pasted collage pieces, along with various minute sizes of hole-punched paper are laid on top.  

I'm interested in making a connection to narrative textile traditions that have a lineage of carrying encoded messages and telling symbolic stories.  Many of the pieces are populated with plants, insects, birds and animals. These biomorphic forms are meant to emulate an emotional presence and qualities of the supernatural, so that there is a sense of blurring between the earthly and spiritual, as occurs with fairy tales or myths. Some of my more recent collage drawings incorporate abstractions, depicting small details, macro views and pattern arrangements. When pairing down to hone in on simple shapes and forms, I am nonetheless interested in revealing a kind of dynamic organization that involves rhythm and repetition, a sense of aliveness and a balance of interrelationships.

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