Arkansas Women to Watch: Paper Routes

Kim Brewer, Joli Livaudais. Linda Nguyen Lopez, and Suzannah Schreckhise.

Guest curator: Allison Glenn of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Brad Cushman Gallery | January 29 – March 12, 2021

The Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts presents their 5th exhibition of Arkansas Women to Watch: Paper Routes in 2021. The theme is paper.

Paper is commonplace and accessible; it is ubiquitous in our lives. It bears text and imagery as a vehicle for communication, and it serves as a support for art forms such as drawing, photography, and printmaking. The first documented papermaking process was recorded in China more than 2,000 years ago, but mass-produced paper – created cheaply from cellulose fibers converted into pulp – has become a worldwide staple since the nineteenth century.

Over the last fifty years, however, the advancing digital revolution and environmental concerns over deforestation have relegated paper to a unique category. While not rare, it has taken on a rarefied air in certain contexts. Handwritten notes, protest signs, and party decorations express sincerity or mark special occasions. Yet, it is also a material we rely on to wipe up spills, scratch out equations or shopping lists, and dry our tears. Our relationship to paper is complex. Its mutable meanings are mirrored by its malleability as a material. Contemporary artists often employ traditional methods while incorporating new conceptual uses for paper as an art medium.

The theme was chosen by the National Museum of Women in the Arts in D.C., where Joli Livaudais (Photography, UA Little Rock) represented Arkansas in this highly regarded biennial Women to Watch. The exhibition in DC closed in December of 2020. The exhibition is underwritten by the Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, thanks to grants and gifts from champions of women’s art.

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Gallery

Kim Brewer

Kim Brewer

Rosebud Moments in Paper
Planes #3

2012

Pigmented cotton linter pulp,
vintage wallpaper mat, found
frame, gold spray paint
28 1/2 x 24 1/2 inches

Kim Brewer

Rosebud Moments in Paper
Planes #8

2013

Pigmented cotton linter pulp,
vintage wallpaper mat, found
frame, gold spray paint
26 x 46 inches

Kim Brewer (b. 1981, Fort Worth, TX)  earned the B.G.S. and M.F.A. degrees at Texas Woman’s University. Selected exhibitions including her work have been held at Texas Woman’s University (2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015), Goddard Art Center, Ardmore, OK (2012), Red Arrow Contemporary Gallery, Dallas (2013), 500X, Dallas (2014, 2015), BRIK Venue, Fort Worth (2016) and Art Ventures at artventures-nwa.org (2020). She lives in Little Rock.

Kimbrewerart.com

Linda Nguyen Lopez

Linda Nguyen Lopez (b.1981, Visalia, CA) earned the B.A. and B.F.A. degrees from California State University – Chico and the M.F.A. from University of Colorado. Selected exhibitions including her work have been held at the Clay Studio, Philadelphia (2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017), Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (2014), Sun Valley Arts Center, Ketchum, ID (2015), Long Beach Museum of Art, CA (2016), Belger Crane Yard, Kansas City (2017), Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles (2018), and the Museum of Art & Design, NY (2019). Selected solo exhibitions have been held at Red Lodge Clay Center, MT (2014), Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami (2016, 2018), and Springfield Museum of Art, MO (2021). She is Assistant Professor of Art at the University of  Arkansas – Fayetteville.

lindalopez.net

Suzannah Schreckhise

Suzannah Schreckhise (b. 1967, Wellington, KS) earned the B.A. degree at University of the Ozarks, Clarksville, AR. Selected exhibitions including her work have been held at Los Angeles Center for Digital Art (2017), Racine Art Museum, WI (2018), Woman Made Gallery, Chicago (2018), Price Tower Arts Center, Bartlesville, OK (2018), Rochester Contemporary Art Center, NY (2018), Webster Arts Center, Webster Groves, MO (2019), Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, AR (2019), and Kent State University, OH (2020). A solo exhibition of her work was held at Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, AR (2020). She lives in Fayetteville.

 suzannahschreckhise.art

Joli Livaudais

Joli Livaudais

All That I Love (detail)

2013 – 2020

Kozo paper, aluminum foil,
pigment ink, resin, sewing pins
feet plus floor

Joli Livaudais (b. 1968, Lake Forest, IL) earned the B.A. and M.S. degrees from University of Texas at Arlington and the M.F.A. from Louisiana Tech University. Selected exhibitions including her work have been held at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans (2013), Arkansas Arts Center (2016), SoHo Photo
Gallery, NY (2017, 2019), and National Museum of Women in the Arts, DC (2020). Solo exhibitions of her work have been held at Grambling State University Gallery, LA (2013), Greenville Arts Council Gallery, MS (2015), and Henderson State University and Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, AR (2019). She is Associate Professor of Photography at University of Arkansas – Little Rock.

joli-livaudais.com