Sandra Hansen
Sandra Hansen creates water with pure, sustainable handmade paper and plastics. Paper and plastics are the natural and the unnatural; the life giving and the life destroyer, the dichotomy of life and death. Sometimes the creations are natural paper and other creations are simply plastics found decaying on beaches or recycled plastic grocery bags. Often the two are mixed together like microscopic plastics in our drinking water. The art is about life or death.
Hansen is an international, environmental, papermaker. When Hansen took up art in 2004, she envisioned painting and traveling like Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin. She traveled to thirty countries, many of which she painted, taught, went on artist residencies, and/or exhibited. Some of these countries include Sweden, Denmark, Canada, India, China, Italy, Australia, Thailand, Ireland, and the Netherlands.
In 2015, Hansen after hearing about a disaster affecting Lake Erie, became an environmental paper maker. Hansen was passionate about paper because the process is fascinating, and paper can be made completely sustainably. She creates two-dimensional art with paper as well as making lanterns, bowls, and journals. Paper is made from plants with cellulose, such as iris leaves, bamboo, flax, and the inner bark of the mulberry tree. The fibers are soaked overnight. They are then cooked for hours until they are soft. The fibers are then beaten for many hours in a machine, called a Holland Beater. When finished, the resulting pulp looks like thin applesauce. This pulp may be used in its natural color or be dyed. The pulp is usually formed into a thin sheet by using a screen with a frame, called a mold and deckle. After the paper is created it must be dried. The process can easily take a week. Hansen decorates the paper while it is wet or dry. She may add plastics for her environmental art or draw on it with oil pastels. She also uses her papers for making lanterns, and coverings for journals. Handmade paper can also be sculptured onto forms. Hansen says that paper is an amazing and versatile medium to work with.
Sandra Hansen
[email protected]
Art Nomad Eco Artist
(423) 276-0065
Www.sandrahansen.com
Hansen is an international, environmental, papermaker. When Hansen took up art in 2004, she envisioned painting and traveling like Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin. She traveled to thirty countries, many of which she painted, taught, went on artist residencies, and/or exhibited. Some of these countries include Sweden, Denmark, Canada, India, China, Italy, Australia, Thailand, Ireland, and the Netherlands.
In 2015, Hansen after hearing about a disaster affecting Lake Erie, became an environmental paper maker. Hansen was passionate about paper because the process is fascinating, and paper can be made completely sustainably. She creates two-dimensional art with paper as well as making lanterns, bowls, and journals. Paper is made from plants with cellulose, such as iris leaves, bamboo, flax, and the inner bark of the mulberry tree. The fibers are soaked overnight. They are then cooked for hours until they are soft. The fibers are then beaten for many hours in a machine, called a Holland Beater. When finished, the resulting pulp looks like thin applesauce. This pulp may be used in its natural color or be dyed. The pulp is usually formed into a thin sheet by using a screen with a frame, called a mold and deckle. After the paper is created it must be dried. The process can easily take a week. Hansen decorates the paper while it is wet or dry. She may add plastics for her environmental art or draw on it with oil pastels. She also uses her papers for making lanterns, and coverings for journals. Handmade paper can also be sculptured onto forms. Hansen says that paper is an amazing and versatile medium to work with.
Sandra Hansen
[email protected]
Art Nomad Eco Artist
(423) 276-0065
Www.sandrahansen.com