Elana Herzog : textiles, staples, paper

As my last post was about Dieu Donné's Kentridge show, I wanted to share another artist's work that I saw at the gallery: Elana Herzog. I previously knew her work in this vein:


Untitled 1, 2002
Chenille bedspread, metal staples, drywall, plywood, paint
96 x 104 x 2 inches

Detail:
She staples rugs, blankets, bedspreads to the wall and disintegrates the rest. I love the attention to the pattern, following the way a textile might actually disintegrate. This process fixes in time what is usually a slow, continual process. It's as if the staples act as a preservationist's tool: these delicate fibers have become stronger because of their sheetrock backing.

Her work at Dieu Donné was, of course, paper. However she maintained a traditional textile structure sensibility with these pieces, weaving the paper strands as warp and weft. The first is bonded onto carpet as well, giving the paper a plush feel. I imagine my feet crushing the paper as I walk across a carpet- that dry crisp crinkled sound, the uncomfortable wrinkles that ruin a perfectly good sheet of blank paper.
Untitled 2009
handmade pigmented cotton and linen paper, textile
36.5 x 24 inches


Untitled 2009
handmade pigmented cotton and linen paper
31.5 x 24 inches