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I began as an analogue fine art photographer taking classes and pouring over technical manuals, and
eventually apprenticing with a commercial photographer. I was enthralled with the medium. Zooming in and out with my camera lens, visually cropping through a tiny view finder, scanning, noticing, seeing texture and minute details and patterns that were before invisible. Chipped paint and hornets’ nests. I began to understand that the space around an object defines it--they need each other to be understood. And that shadows redefine an object—again and again if the light moves. In changing light, I grabbed at the impermanence of things and uncertainty became okay. It was an emotional experience for me. These early explorations deeply influence my current work in fiber and handmade paper. And now I move fluidly between making and viewing and back again, always conceiving with a viewer’s perspective in mind. My work straddles photography, the object permanence of craft, and the context dependent character of installation art. In my art practice, I strive to make ever deeper connections among concepts, the materials I use, and my experimental processes. Texture and form are essential across works. And light is almost always a central conceptual factor. ________________________________ Donna Hall is a North Carolina based paper and fiber artist. She has a background in art history, literary and cultural studies, and fine art photography, as well as extensive fiber art skills. Since 2020, she has developed her own structured program of study, including courses, and workshops, and an ongoing hand paper-making cooperative with a local paper artist. Most recently, she completed an intensive program in hand paper-making with Mary Hark at the Penland School of Craft, an advanced study in paper casting with Guy Lougashi, paper and installation artist based in Berlin, and a plant based paper making study using unprocessed plant fiber with Sylvia Turbiner based in Argentina . Hall received a BA from Williams College and an MA from Duke University. _______________________________________________________ 2024 juried group exhibitions: The International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists (IAPMA) Paper Art Biennale 2024, “ReBloom,” Jurors: Angela Barbour, Karen Olsen, Ziya Tarapore. Castle Hagen im Bremischen, Germany. International Alternative Processes 2024, SOHO Photography Gallery, Juror: Aline Smithson, New York, New York. Durham Art Guild 70th Annual Juried Exhibition, Juror, William Cordova, Durham, N.C. FRESH Annual Juried Exhibition, ArtSpace, Juror: Jessica Orzulak, Raleigh, N.C. McCord Gallery, Common Threads: Art & Fiber, Palos Park, IL. North American Hand Papermakers, Paper Tides, Denver, CO. ___________________________________________________ |