VISITING ARTIST REBECCA HUTCHINSON

Hutchinson pigment painting in Pyramid's papermaking studio

Last week Pyramid Atlantic's papermaking studio was graced by visiting artist Rebecca Hutchinson, an installation artist known for large scale installations of paper and clay sculptures. The organic forms in her environments are both familiar and otherworldly, evocative of plants and cocoons but also showing the human hand in their rich, often woven textures. Hutchinson is inspired by growth patterns in nature which she sees as metaphors for human issues. Her work begins with a concept, and though her research takes place in her garden and in plant textbooks, for Rebecca "humans come first." Her current works deal with the idea of fluorishing, which she defines as health and vibrant growth.


Rebecca studied ceramics in undergraduate school and completed a four year papermaking training program at the University of Georgia. Her until then separate practices of ceramics and papermaking came together for her in graduate school, when she realized that combining clay and paper would give her an opportunity to work large but maintain a lightweight and translucent quality important to her work. She poetically describes the material as “delicate but incredibly strong.” 


Rebecca Hutchinson spent her week here working on paper clay sculptures and flat wall pieces (something new for Hutchinson) for the Linda Darke gallery in Houston, Texas. Over the weekend she taught an intensive two-day workshop in our studio about making paper clay sculptures. To view Rebecca's work click here.

Rebecca's class was messy and fun!