Papermaking Collaboration: Denton Sheilds, FSU Art MFA Candidate ’27, with Zoë Charlton, Professor of Art and Director of the School of Art at George Mason University and FSU Art BFA ‘95 Alum!
Being Fortunate enough to meet with Zoë Charlton, Professor of Art and Director of the School of Art at George Mason University and FSU Art BFA ‘95 Alum, during her visit to FSU in the Fall of 2025, we related on how papermaking influences our practices. We discussed the significance of locality and the roles that plants and creating art have in a “hyperlocal” sphere. The following Spring we met again at George Mason University’s Paper as Politic Symposium where I presented on my plant-to-paper processes. She told me she was still thinking about the sheets of Spanish moss paper that I had shown her during our studio visit and went on to ask if I would be able to make a series of this paper for her to work with in her upcoming project. I excitedly agreed, and in the months since, I have been collecting Spanish moss, cooking the plant, and processing the material. So far, I have made thirty-six letter-sized sheets for Zoë to cut and collage. The second stage of the project is to scale up and make ten 20″ x 15″ sheets that she will be able to draw on. To make this happen, I have built myself two deckle boxes and a drying box to make paper as consistent as possible with such an alternative and inconsistent source of fiber.
The results are beautiful, complex sheets with a symbolic charge that makes every step worth the effort.
