Paper Heralds and Woven Wanderers

Abstract figures crafted from colorful paint chips evoke and transformation in the "Paper Army Series."

Paper can be fragile — but it can also shield. In this week’s post, I share The Paper Heralds and The Woven Wanderers.

Two projects born at the intersection of vulnerability and protection, storytelling and structure. These pieces also serve as early explorations for upcoming projects, including Tabards of Place and the Chasuble Triptych (to be revealed in the coming weeks).

Paper Heralds started as a subtle act of defiance: a collection of small, cut, and folded shapes crafted from bits of paint chips, maps, and ephemera. These shapes were without faces and symbolic, resembling tiny tabards and armor. I envisioned them as figures from lost processions, each bearing a piece of a story. Despite lacking faces, they expressed personality, unveiled solely through their posture and gestures.

Faceless soldiers crafted from colorful geometric shapes, expressing personality through dynamic poses and vibrant contrasts in this unique paper army.

The Woven Wanderers expanded on this idea.

"Woven Wanderers" series showcase abstract textile art, blending vibrant patterns and textures inspired by travel memories and recycled fabrics.

By using my custom-printed textiles inspired by my travel photographs, these fabrics are also utilized in the Tabards of Place project. I experimented with layering and constructing these portraits that exist between garments and totems. These were more than just costume sketches; they served as containers, a concept I embrace for the characters I design in production work, acting as vessels for memory, for place, and for imagined rites of passage.

Two figures don abstract cloaks adorned with colorful patterns, juxtaposing traditional portrait profiles with contemporary travel textile designs.

Bitter Rivals in a Face-Off

Wanderers clad in vibrant Istanbul textiles share a moment of laughter on their journey.

These garments are designed as abstractions, intended to evoke a form that viewers, through their perception and historical context, will interpret as a "real" garment or otherwise. Unlike a costume sketch, which serves as a detailed guide, a map or recipe card for the costume shop and drapers to use in collaboration and construction, these pieces are solely meant to evoke and suggest fabricated versions of geometric shapes.

Travelers enveloped in vibrant photo collages textiles of Bodrum and Venice, sharing a laugh.

Two abstract figures, made from mixed fabrics, engage in conversation, evoking a sense of travel and storytelling.

Soldiers made from intricately crafted fabrics, featuring textured textiles and adorned with fine thread details, serve as distinctive artistic representations.

Incorporating caricatures from Leonardo da Vinci brought grotesque humor and depth to the figures. Da Vinci has long fascinated me as an example of interdisciplinary curiosity and exploration.

Once I began creating various figures, I couldn't stop, as if these characters were eager to come to life. This also occurs often in my costume design work. Characters born on the page develop a life of their own and begin a dialogue with each other and with me. They reveal how they want to appear, stand, and move in the world. I often read about writers discussing this kind of "channeling" when they create characters. My father, the late poet Morton Marcus, used to say this happened to him late at night as he wrote at his desk, with voices "coming through him onto the page." So it was with these small but mighty figures.

A collage artwork portraying a couple, utilizing a combination of textured fabric and patterns to craft their vivid clothing, reflecting a fusion of cultural and artistic influences.

What unites both bodies of work is a desire to use humble materials—paper, thread, found textures—to construct forms of presence. Something in these small pieces speaks to resilience, especially in their softness. This is armor not of steel, but of memory, layered and stitched.

Closing Thought:

We don’t always need steel to feel protected. Sometimes memory, layered and stitched, is its own kind of shield.

• Val

Materials:

• Painted and found papers (paint chips, maps, scraps)

• Thread, cotton floss

• Needles, scissors, matte medium

• Fabric scraps, photo transfers, ink drawings