From Dirca to design: printmaking with leatherwood (Dirca mexicana) bark paper

ABSTRACT

Washi is paper made by hand from the bark of native Japanese shrubs. Washi is a common medium used for printmaking and paper crafts. Artists who have studied nagashi-zuki, a sheet-forming method unique to washi, often import Japanese fibers because alternatives with similar properties have not been identified. We propose Dirca L. (leatherwood), a shrub endemic to North America, as a source of fibers with properties similar to those plants traditionally used to make washi. The thinness and strength of the leatherwood paper allows it to withstand repeated bending, folding and creasing better than paper made from species of Wikstroemia (Japanese fiber), suggesting an alternative for use with various printmaking techniques and paper arts and crafts that involve folding, such as origami. We engaged printmakers and origami artists in creating original pieces using our leatherwood paper and evaluated how the paper responds to various printmaking techniques and complex folding. We identified Dirca mexicana as a source of fibers with similar properties to species of Wikstroemia used to make gampi washi. Handmade D. mexicana bark paper was successfully used as a paper medium for intaglio, lithography, relief, digital, and screenprinting printmaking techniques, as well as, complex folding origami sculptures.

KEYWORDS:

• Dirca
• bark
• printmaking
• washi
• nagashi-zuki
• papermaking

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Department of Art and Visual Culture, Iowa State University for the use of the printmaking studio. Dr Chris Currey allowed the use of hydroponic tubs for sifting. Iowa State University Focus: Artist Grant Program provided funding to frame and exhibit final prints. University Print Society at Iowa State University for assisting with the preparation of bark and forming of sheets of paper. Center for the Book, the University of Iowa for allowing us to use their facilities to create our paper. Timothy Barrett for teaching us how to create paper using the nagashi-zuki sheet-forming technique. Participating printmakers and origami artists.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zachary Hudson

Zachary Hudson earned a PhD in the Department of Horticulture at Iowa State University. Zachary worked with Tim Barrett, Director, Center for the Book, at the University of Iowa to create handmade paper from the bark of plant species Dirca mexicana. Tim Barrett trained Zachary in nagashi-zuki, a sheet-forming method unique to Japanese handmade paper.

Andrew Zandt

Andrew Zandt earned an MFA in the Department of Art and Visual Culture with a focus on printmaking. Andrew’s printmaking work has been included in numerous juried exhibition across the Midwest, USA, including the Parkside National Small Print Juried Exhibition in Parkside, Wisconsin, and the Annual Paper In Particular National Juried Exhibition in Columbia, Missouri.

April Katz

April Katz is a Merrill Professor Emerita at Iowa State University and graduate advisor to Andrew. Katz’s prints have been exhibited throughout the US and are in numerous collections, including the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri; Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University; and the Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC.

William Graves

William Graves is Dean of the Graduate College & Professor at Iowa State University, and graduate advisor to Zachary.