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rhinocerosproject · 2 years

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From Oaxaca to Mendocino to Abruzzo.... a new embroidery underway.

Through researching Durer and his Rhinoceros, we learned that he printed a woodcut map of Tenochtitlan (pre-hispanic Mexico City) that was published in a 1524 edition of Hernan Cortes’ letters to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, celebrating his conquest of the Aztec Empire.

Nuremberg, where Durer resided, was a center for printing, cartography, weaponry, and finance during this time of Empire building. Nuremberg investors financed a great deal of Spanish colonial exploration of the New World. Spanish firsthand accounts of the New World were published in Nuremberg and disseminated throughout Europe.

The map is a European interpretation, based on Cortes’ accounts, of an American indigenous cosmology. The image itself is oriented with south at the top, the left hand side of the map represents, at a very different scale than that of the city, the Gulf of Mexico and Southeastern United States, including Florida. On the right is the city of Tenochtitlan, under the Hapsburg flag, surrounded by Lake Texcoco, with the raised causeways that linked the island city to the mainland. At the center of the city is the temple precinct, and at its center are the twin temples that were dedicated to the deities Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli, gods of water and war, respectively.

Like the rhinoceros, Durer never saw Tenochtitlan. And, like the rhinoceros, the Aztec city and the lake that surrounded it, were displaced by colonialism. This map of Tenochtitlan is now the foundation for another monumental, collective embroidery and eventual work in paper.

In 2018, we were invited to the TEXTIM III conference hosted by the Museo Textil de Oaxaca, in Oaxaca, Mexico, to launch this new embroidery.

In 2019, We held our first US sewing circles on the map in conjunction with our exhibition at the Mendocino Art Center.

After the exhibition came down, we were taking a break to assess the whirlwind of the past few years, and our future plans for Rhinoceros Paper Pours and Map Sewing Circles, when all came to a stand still with Covid.

Like for many of you, we’re sure, 2020 was a year of quarantine and social distancing. During that time, we began to embrace ideas of slowing down, intentionality, and the importance of stillness.

This past summer, though, as things seemed to be opening up, we were invited by LAB-8 to bring the Map project to Abruzzo, Italy, as part of a new artist residency program: Riabitare con l’Arte.

We stayed in the Comune di Barisciano, in Abruzzo, and held sewing circles there, as well as in Fontecchio, Panfilo di Ocre, Acciano, and PIcenze.

Like the Rhinoceros, the map will become a document and a story, evidence of the many hands that contributed stitches, and now also a material record of the places to which we travel.

While we are still grappling with exactly where to go and what to do to move this project forward in its best form, what is very clear to us is the importance of using these historical images that speak to intersecting histories as jumping off points for conversations from many different contexts and perspectives.

Over the course of gathering, sewing, research and writing, we’ve honed in on some key ideas that we want to continue to investigate moving forward:

1. From a contemplative perspective: That perhaps change can come from stillness as well as from action. That stillness is substantially different from stagnancy, and that creating a still, meditative, communal listening space is a powerful age-old tool that we want to continue to engage. That creating this space around a communal material project, can aid in reconnecting us to our bodies and our material realities - our environments and the land beyond.

2. From a political/social action perspective: That in order to best engage social and environmental issues of today, we must dig deep into our personal and collective histories – going back to the beginnings of globalization - to tease out our common origins, interstices and divergences, and altogether how we arrived here at the present moment. That our primary goal might be to find commonalities, community, connection and healings in this time of insistent polarization.

#map #tenochtitlan #lagrantenochtitlan #albrecht durer #nuremberg map #embroidery #sewingcircle #rhinocerosproject #abruzzo #oaxaca #museotextil #italy #barisciano #fontecchio #ocre #mendocinoartcenter #acciano

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rhinocerosproject · 2 years

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How Is Your Rhinoceros Inspiring You?

For the first time ever, our embroidery and watermark were exhibited together last November at the Mendocino Art Center, as the centerpiece of our exhibition, How is Your Rhinoceros Inspiring You? The exhibition was named for a question poised to a 5-year-old which was part of the impetus for this project.

#rhinocerosproject #watermark #handmade paper #emrbroidery #mendocino art center

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rhinocerosproject · 4 years

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The Big Pour

After years of research, fundraising, and traveling sewing circles to sixteen different sites, we finally staged the event we’d been leading up to: pouring the watermark. In our previous post, we mentioned that we’d used plastic window blinds to serve as the underlying su - which prevented air circulation and hindered the drying of the paper. For this round, we corrected that with the use of bamboo. Above, the mould assembled and ready at Shotwell Paper Mill.

During our test pour, we realized that we had drastically overestimated the amount of pulp needed for a sheet of this size, and that it needed to be beaten finer. Fortunately, we hadn’t used all of that pulp during our test pour, so it was returned to Michelle’s Hollander and beaten longer.

Most of the day was spent in preparation of the pulp; the actual pour taking less than a minute.

The fiber we prepared was a mix of abaca and cotton rag (cotton donated by Magnolia Editions).

Above, taking it all in - we did it. It worked. It didn’t seem real.

We are so grateful to the many donors who contributed to our crowdfunding campaign - we never could have been able to pour the watermark without you! Part of the funding was used to document the day in a forthcoming video shot by Javier Briones. A short, time-lapse video of assembling the mould can be seen here on our Facebook page, and another of the day of the pour can be seen here.

Later that evening, our community was invited to come see the wet, poured sheet in situ, and then join us at the San Francisco Center for the Book for a celebration. Since the project launched at the Center in 2016, it was nice to come full circle there for the finale.

The previous day we’d spent cooking up a storm, creating an edible journey for our guests at the Center that reflected the colonial travel of the original Rhinoceros depicted by Albrecht Durer in 1515.

Beginning in Gujarat and Portuguese Goa...

Making way along the coasts of Africa, with spicy chiles and nuts, stopping on the isle of St. Helena for citrus to ward off scurvy.

on to Lisbon with pastel de nata and a selection of meats and cheeses.

As a throwback to our days at Ramon’s Tailor, Frank came by and made waffles as part of the celebration, loosely corresponding to the Rhinoceros’ brief stop on the way to Rome at an isle off the coast of Marseilles on January 24, 1516 so that King Francis of France might have a look at her.

Thank you to all our friends who joined us for the evening!

Special thanks to Dominic and Gretchen for food set up and tending bar!

And an additional thanks to Patricia Wakida of Wasabi Press for womaning the Vandercook for our giveaway print for the evening.

After a few days had passed, the paper was dry, and ready to be gently peeled away from the embroidery.

The deckle was broken down, and then the dried sheet was revealed.

With great care, the paper and embroidery were flipped over, and the embroidery was slowly peeled away from the paper. There was no damage to the stitches and the threads did not bleed into the paper.

And then it was real.

This paper was much thinner and finer than our trial run, and it still has proven very difficult to photograph.

Together, the embroidery and the watermark are presence and absence. One, made by the hands of many, proof of what people can achieve when they come together. The other, a ghostly echo of what could be lost if nothing changes.

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rhinocerosproject · 4 years

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Fortune favors the mould

The Rhinoceros Project team are currently Artists-in-Residence at the Larry Spring Museum for Common Sense Physics in Fort Bragg. We’re using the residency as a retreat in which we are catching up and planning ahead.

Our original 2020 plans included launching a new website and offering sewing circles on our new monumental embroidery in New York, Philadelphia, and throughout California. With the impact of SARS-Covid-19, we were, like everyone, forced to change our plans. In the stillness of the quarantine, we’ve been appreciating the time to reflect.

A little over a year ago we staged the test pour of the enormous Rhinoceros watermark at Pacific Textile Arts. Above is the pouring mould built for us by Anderson’s Alternatives, made from locally-harvested Douglas Fir, being milled below.

Like it sounds, a pouring mould is designed for paper pulp to literally be poured into its frame, retaining the pulp whilst the water drains out. Both of us had poured large sheets before, however never with the amount of precision that was needed to capture an embroidered watermark.

At the same time, we needed the mould to be modular, something we could assemble and disassemble for storage. With the help of Anderson’s Alternatives, we arrived at a hybrid design combining elements of eastern and western traditional papermaking moulds.

Friends and family were a source of amazing help during the day. Below, Anne’s nephew, Abe Vollman assists in attaching the bottom braces of the mould.

The framework was then turned over, leveled, and a layer of two by four crossbeams stretching lengthwise are placed across the bottom braces. A final layer of mitered 2 x 3′s are hammered into place with spacers in between, below.

After the support is assembled, a window blind is laid over the frame to act as a “su” - to support the embroidery evenly. This later turned out to be problematic, as the plastic did not permit air movement and hindered the drying of the paper. For our “real” pour later, we substituted bamboo.

The embroidery was laid over the the “su.”

A deckle frame was laid on top, and the embroidery was stretched taut.

In preparation for pouring this sheet, we had watched and studied videos with other papermakers who make big sheets, including Hong Hong and the Awagami Paper Mill. From Awagami’s video, we watched how the papermakers poured directionally and in a rhythm that caused the waves of paper pulp to bounce off of one another and settle evenly.

After spending two years sewing the watermark, the moment was finally here. With a mounting sense of anxiety, we gathered the buckets of pulp around the mould, and with the help of our friend Teddy Milder, poured our first giant sheet of paper. Two years of sewing, and an additional year of preparation, all boiled down to about ten seconds.

In a pouring mould of this size, the paper dries in situ, rather than being couched onto another surface. Due to the plastic underneath, we had some difficulties getting the paper to dry. It also became apparent that we needed to pour much less pulp, and that the pulp needed to be beaten finer.

We had to do a substantial amount of sponge, sham wow, and broom pressing from above to extract as much water as we could before having to move it indoors three days after the pour.

As a result of having to move it indoors before it was completely dry, the paper dried without substantial restraint, and so cockled into the above sculptural form resembling rhinoceros skin, which nearly stands on its own due to the excessive amount of poured pulp. For a first trial, though, we deemed it a success!

#rhinocerosproject #handmade paper #papermaking #handpapermaking #papermaker #papelhechoamano #papierkunst #watermark #marcadeagua #pacifictextilearts #fortbragg #decklebox

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rhinocerosproject · 5 years

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Sewing Circle Participants

Thank you to everyone who participated in sewing the rhinoceros! We could never have finished it without you. You are forever in our hearts.

Deanna Cruise back

Juliana Pennington shoulder

Yue Yang Caigla Zou back

Yuen (Jessica) Chen back

Kelly White shoulder

Athena Johns leg

Antoinette Barton head

Erica Lipshultz rump

Marc Fletcher back left foot

Siobhan Cassidy front right leg

Elisa Li head

Harry Yu head

Beth Thomas snout

Erica Barajas forehead

Vivian Romney shoulder

Zoe Walker head

Amy Khalmann rear flank

Alina Hayes feet

Janice Wood rear flank

Barb Bakun head

Andi Wong rear flank

Sarah Stein back, thigh

Chloe Marrinstein head, foot, outline, da booty

Sadie Marrinstein thigh

Amanda H. Johnson head, foot, outline

Kaila Wood head, foot, outline

Leah Johnson head, foot, outline

Ani Mukerji back leg

Inka Mukerji back leg

Winnie Ding rear flank

Jennifer White back feet

August White back feet

Neve Schmitt head

Michelle Schmitt head

Sigrid foot

Leah Anderson foot

Mary Kenny rump

Isle Oritt rump

Olga back leg

Dustin rhinobum!

Linnea Furlog head

Pam Deluco rear leg, haunch, elbow, letters

Jeff Thomas back

Bryan Barkley rear

Mary Wheeler back top flank

Teri Gardiner tail hair, rump, belly, ridge of back

Robin Hill rump

Darcy Padilla stomach

Emily Clark-Krasner rear

Yuen Chen leg

Jodi Connelly back

Noah Greene belly

Ryan Meyer belly and back

Arielle Rebek belly

Muzi LaRowe eyes

T. Blackmon bottom

Bettina Pauley tail

Allyson Feeney rump

Mark Baugh-Sasaki back foot

Dox Lorax haunch

Kelli Rae rump

Cesar Rubio unknown

Ho Yan Nip unknown

Frank Merritt all over, circles, edges, hindquarters, shoulder, rump, dark purple bottom edge of shoulder armor, behind the ear

Kim Miskowicz rump, right foot, rear/rump

Julia Langer buttocks

Jonathan Coignard buttocks

Suzanne Gore haunch

Kelly Wang from hip to buttock

Steve Rasmussen rear leg

Bob Rocco rump

Odysseus Wolken upper rump

Juliette Langley lower rump

Fehim Haelzic crown/forehead

Leyla Haelzic crown/forehead

Tanja Gels head

Lisa Ekstrom from right leg, forehead

Eva Walker front leg

Sara Wright eye

Karrie Hovey shoulder

M. Dym a wrinkle on the head

Amy M. Ho front foot, forehead

Dave Lyons just below eye

Mel Day forehead

Heather Peters ear

Helen Hiebert butt

Alyssa Casey neck, horn

Vanessa Gingold rump

Mary V. Marsh front right toe, ear

Antonio Guerra letra C

Jenny Phillips hands

Ingrid Rojas Contreras hoof

Maia Wachtel lines on the back

Roli Douglas the top line

Noga Wizansky rump

Suzanne Forester border line

Cindy Steiler face

Alexa Boromo behind

Amber Hoy back

Melody Dalton back

Cheyenne Dalton rear feet

Elizabeth Boyne ear

Teddy Midler front foot

Drew Cameron face

Cathy DeForest front left hoof

Leah Korican face

Mayumi Hamanaka r - text

Dana Zed shoulder

Erin Sheanin knee

Alisha Funkhouser front foot

Debbie Walker unknown

Nancy Marriner tail

Summer Om face

Eraden Wordal Chesh face

Isle Oritt knee

Mary Grace Tate toe

Sophia Auen face

April Marriner tail

Charlotte Semmes snout

Andre Chevonier foot

Jane Cassidy foot

Kellen Rhoda foot

Meiasha Gray border

Samantha Bankston back foot

Winship Varnes hindquarters

Miranda McFarland belly

Susan Paigen nose

Kevin Holmes ear

Jackie Wallowheng plants

Beta Heist Morello edge

Elaine Todd nose and edge near nose

Lori Chambers back foot

Mickie McCormic foot scales

Jeremy Logan ear hair

Brook Craddock mythical horn!

Morning Hullinger toe jam back foot, shoulder flank, final inner

C.C. Chaya scales

Lolli Jacobsen back

Sarah Crews rump

Connie Burket ears

Debbie Divine rear leg

Martha Rhea hindquarters

Donna Sandberg along the top of the back shoulder and letter H

Pam Morgan back

Ruth Cathcard Rake front leg and letter R

Gretchen Boyum front leg, front foot

Rachel Butler front leg

Lucy Butler front leg

Bill North butt, ground, back right foot

Caroline Stoll head

April Engstrom back right leg/hip

Connie Wilson close to face

Gloria Gonzalez hind foot

Judy Nease chin

Alleigh Weems horn

Lyndsi Weems back foot

Karla Prickett rump

Jennifer Baker back

Kent Manske spots

Susan Tuoley back foot and butt

Susan Paigen nose

Christina Steinbrecher pfrandt (lower leg)

Yeqi Song legs

Yuan Luo legs

Jenny Chin (Kuan-Jen) legs

Jingying Liang back leg

Jianguyin Reng back leg

Beth Abdallah back flank

Rebecca Redman back leg

Michael Seidel kidney lining

Rita Hsing head

Sandy Lee back

Chelsea Herman back

Marie Kidd right front foot

David Kidd right front foot

Amy Whitcomb rump

Bob Carpenter nose

Barbara Carpenter nose

Cynthia Beecher ear

Leteb Beecher ear

Susan Sweet ear

CK Itamura hamhock

Dionne Thornton front left foot, butt edge

Robert Wuilfe da booty

Gina Ching front foot

Jordan Juel front foot

Anne Ingraham front foot

Michelle Waters butt

Elizabeth Addison foot

Lydia Nakashima Dagarod shoulder

Linda Joy Kettwinkel snout

Peggy George butt

Maryly Snow scales

Zelisa back end

Scott Partch back end

Chin Cox head

Hada Marshall Booth head

Eduardo Arenas leg

Luna Gomez head

Sauita Patel gog (back)

Brian Lease back leg

Islonia Hasbrim frente

Guadalupe Portillo espalda

Queen Krubally back

Bridget McCraken back

Margaret Coston back

Kathleen Murphy belly

Julie Grigoryan ear

Joyce Subel border

Yatit Maidorh head

Omer head

Alon head

Rooek head

Eli head

Posja Mahushwai neckline

Talia nose

Ella ear

Jonathan nose

Nancy Brunn back

Sabina Brunn ears

Judith Fast back

Lindsey Stoll hoof

Emily Marks head

Victor Vargas chin

Britt-Marie Alon horn

Al Bloch horn

Alyssa Flores horn

John Hoffmeyer border

Madison Cockrum head

Anthony Murillo border

Sheri Simons front legs

Emily Matherson face

Hana Jones hoof (back foot)

Angela Kirchebel bottom left corner border,

small area of right foot, scales

Adele Etcheverry Sheets upper border rear and rear of Rhino

Leslie Jurado back leg, hoof scales

Jaime Muñoz shoulder

Aiden Ginn back leg

Sheecid Lopez border and back leg

Sophy Hock shoulder

Nancy Scott Patton rump

Hana Beaty shoulder, back leg

Eric D’Alessandro lower jaw

Betsy Copeland leg and hoof

Kylie McCloskey horn

Dellanira Carrillo butt

Jose Llamos hoof (back foot)

Timothy Clancy forehead

Kobley Benjamin Mona shoulder

Alicia Ramirez foot

Kim Green upper thigh/butt

Francesca Figone left back

Josette Stokes shoulder

Mercedes Yatta foot

Luis Medina booty

Shane Geoge face (under eye)

Ellen Baird foot

Daria Booth shoulder

Adria Davis backside

Johnny Bruno back foot

Brianna Warren leg

Adrienne Glatz forehead

Mallory Frucha bum

Kelly Weber front and back legs

Carissa Duggan booty

Jasmin Gonzalez foot

Francis Newsom rear end

Shari Maxson Hopper shoulder

Veronica Brenck butt

Marie Fox rump, front foot, back foot

Chloe Taylor root

Marissa Winslow rump/tail

Shai Porath head

Linda Bea Miller tummy

Tom Seoul rump

Kathleen Ritchie unknown

Sue Bottom front leg

Lisa Chu forehead

Anne Ingraham hind foot

Chris Voisard rump

Jane McLaughlin front foot

Malinda Thompson rear leg

Mallory Nomura Saul tusk and back

Judy Shintani tummy and rump

Kevin Austin top of nose, bottom of horn

Claudia Molley top of head, behind ear

Kate Oltmann butt

Amanda Bosma wrinkle on face

Xittaly Vasquez back leg

Emily Murray torso wrinkle

Julia Albo border

Miriam Hassman neck/face

Ryan Patton back left leg

Alexa Weber chin and left front leg

Jiovanny Soto forehead

Jenny Harp lower back

Steven Garen nose/head

Tallulah Terryl leg

Johanna Arnold back

Sean Olson muzzle

Emma Spertus back

Chris Challans loin, belly

Susan Kanowith-Klein rump

Christina Aumann eyelashes and forehead

Ruth Souza misc dorsal area

Phuong Pham booty

Laurie Crogan shoulder-scales

Lorna Turner armpit

Eva Hausam chin wavy lines

David Reiman shoulder

Lanqin Wang forehead

Camryn Travis belly

Jennifer Munnings eye/cheek

Brooke Sommers belly

Katie Gallagher ribs

Sariah Gonzalez forehead

Anthony Isenhour shoulder

Berenika Boberska the bottom!

Taylor Hoogsteden hip

Carmina Ellison sideburns

Nicole McHale shoulder blade

Preeva Tramiel back leg

Jessica Bernhardt front leg

Milldrid Thompson ear

Sharon Robinson front leg

Timiza Wagner back leg

Bobbie Jeffery rear of body

Joanne Landers ear

Sylvia Stanger front leg

Paula Landers back leg

Charlotte Jacobs front leg

Mavis Brown front shoulder

Cheryl Batrato haunch

Kathy Goldmaker shoulder

Liz Matthews back leg above the foot

Sailee Pawar back leg

Andrea Fleiner belly

Marina Taniform leg

Andres Taniform leg

Rose Nguyen ribs

Marco Chavez ribs

Lily May Larson cheek

Rachel Williamson back leg

Cheryl Zuur above the eye

Kathy Willis hindquarters

Martha White hindquarter

Artemis Koren head

Anika Sykora tummy

Irene Floyd hindquarter

Ming Zhou head

Max Koren front leg

Dinah Irino ear

Maya leg

Morgan Carter head

Ava Kasim the hinney

Isabella Anderson back

Ian Kussi-Gillu shoulder

Viyada Satyapan upper front back

Mahvash Salehpour back hip

Christina Bayley back foot

Pam Schwartz left leg

Lynn Koolish back leg

Sandra Duncan front hoof

Emily Rosenberg right leg

Gina Dixon back leg

Tamara Sommerfield neck

Diana R. Reton rear leg

Candace Kling shoulder

Cindy Jacomette head

Nicki Hitz Edison front leg

Toru Sueto front left leg

Jeanne Sueto under eye, along lower jaw

Linda Goss rear hip

Kim Meuli Brown back ribs

Michael Chin chin

Kasla Melton right back leg (pierna derecha)

Vanessa Herrera right back thing

Wendy Brown back leg

Jack Fleig front leg

Amanda Fleig front leg

Shobitha belly

Sasha back

Marilyn rear haunch

Caden Jo Hartdegen head/neck

Yolanda Araujo unknown

Meredith Payn unknown

Tiffany Hartdeger unknown

Richard cheek

Hanna Peacock shoulder

Juan Manuel Gutierrez rear hip

Paola Valencia head

Jesus Castillo head

Diego Barregan shoulder

Hernandez Irvin belly

Cindy Simmons cheek

Ginna Sierra upper leg

Carole Walters-Cook face

Angela Etsey back leg and thigh

Victor Navarro IV V neck

Elizabeth Finkler ear

Jennifer Lu lower tummy

Kylee Dougherty neck

Jada Wong stomach

Kerwin Azores back knee

Hugo Jimenez head

Becca Wong neck

Breanna Estrada unknown

Candaces Perrault shoulder

Kevin Liu belly and front of leg plates

Michael Huang Mil back leg

Natalie Diazza chin hairs

Eliza Villa dorsal neck

Steve Dellicalpini in that neck tho!

Michelle van Eyken right flank

Leslie McLaughlin shoulder circles

Angela Acosta front leg

Allison Acosta front shoulder circle

Rebecca Bui upper back leg

Barbara Post back foot

Irene Caravajal back leg

Gabrielle Koizumi neck

Clayton Bavor front leg

Ava Eui front leg

Judy Diamond upper shoulder

Mhanna Kutras front leg

Liam neck

Leona neck

Leana Olliffe stomach

Patti Samuelson right leg

A. Manley neck plates

Donna King right shoulder

Becky Leech right hindquarters

Raymond Mueller front left leg

Timmy shoulder

Asher Fleig front leg

Julia back leg

Nicole B chest

L. Hum hind leg

Alice Schwegman shoulder

Gail Blackmarr unknown

Christina Truong neck

June Dao scale

Ellie Reese a rear leg

Susan L. Goranson left rear leg

Marci Ariagno breast shield

Maya unknown

Diane Mestu head

Claudia Havah back leg

Mickey Guffin right upper hind leg

Annalise Sailen unknown

Jennifer Schaeffer front right leg

Mia rear leg

Joe Ranish right shoulder

Ann Ranish rear leg

Anthony left leg

Leslie Nobler neck

Anne Trickey back leg

Maris Kaplan neck fold and front shoulder

Paula Bohan neck fold

James Brooks neck

Amanda Briggs back right foot

Andrew Briggs back right foot

Miriam Briggs back right foot

Willow Yamaden cheek

Sarah Bartman neck

Bridget McMahon flank

Amy Brown jowl

Vanessa Dion Fletcher jowl

Denera Gains unknown

Justin Gains unknown

Kurt Salinas stomach/inner thigh

Randall Harrison upper mid bicep

Ivy Moya back foot

Pam Lonero breast plate

Molly Olsen Roush shoulder/neck area

Brook Olsen Roush shoulder/neck area

Susie Miller Roush shoulder/neck area

Reyhon Ertekin unknown

Torres Leck shoulder

Anna Banancks shoulder

Emily van Engel front leg

Silvia Eckert cheek

Davis Watson breastplate

Debachree Ghosh breastplate

Jessica Jane Jennings cheek

Kimberly Ann Piper shoulder

Alisa Murray cheek

Jennifer Hill breastplate

Susan Ady cheek

Chris Washburn neck

Janet Ady flank

Louise Horkey border

Nupur Kamat front shoulder

Tamela Holmes ear

Tameyah Holmes cheek

Ruth Tabancay upper leg

Teddy Midler shoulder

Jerry Majors Patterson cheek area

Susan Afell eye area

Elaine Todd neck

Senator Jordan cheek

Meadow unknown

Lori Chambers neck

Josephine Tumova neck

Fynn Tuma chest

Diana Dominguez chest

Jason Godeke neck

Cristina Mathews belly and front right leg

Jody Alexander neck, chest

Elaine Todd belly circles

Raquel Marquez belly

Josslyn Robles chest

Rhea Rynearson shoulder

Valerie Frey shoulder

Aidan Parker shoulder, right shoulder

A. Parker right shoulder

Seraphine Ries belly

Lid. C. belly

Jamelie whiskers

Carolyn Schneider upper shoulder

Josh Morsell lower front shoulder

Lia V. Wilson middle breast

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rhinocerosproject · 5 years

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WE NEED YOUR HELP

After two years of work and traveling to sixteen different locations, the embroidery for the Rhinoceros Project is complete! We are now moving in to the final phase of the project - pouring the giant watermark in handmade paper. This will take place on August 9, 2019, at the San Francisco Center for the Book, in a celebratory event. We hope you will join us! In order to complete this final endeavor, we need your help! With fiscal sponsorship from Fractured Atlas, we've launched a crowdfunding campaign. This means that all donations, less the value of rewards, are tax deductible! We hope you will take a look at the page, watch the video (you might see some familiar faces there!) and consider donating.

The final pieces - both embroidery and watermark - will be exhibited together for the first time at the Mendocino Art Center later this fall during our exhibition, How is Your Rhinoceros Inspiring You?

If you are unable to donate, please consider supporting the project by sharing the campaign with your networks and social media. This work is a testament to the nearly 600 people from all walks of life, ages, and eleven different countries who contributed stitches to this project, as well as the friends who have supported from afar. We couldn't have come this far without all of you. Thank you for all your support, contributions, and stories. You mean the world to us. Yours in the faraway nearby, Michelle and Anne

#rhinocerosproject #Watermark #handmade paper #collaboration #colaboración #papelhechoamano #socialpractice #social pedagogy #social paper #san francisco center for the book #mendocino art center

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rhinocerosproject · 5 years

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The Completed Embroidery

With only a small amount of stitches to complete, we returned to Pacific Textile Arts for a final round of small, and very close, sewing circles.

The girl that inspired it all!

The final stitches, after nearly two years of travel and sewing....

The completed embroidery, June 2018.

#rhinocerosproject #pacifictextilearts #embroidery #sewingcircle #albrechtdurer #durer #durer rhino #collaboration #colaboración #bordar #finally

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rhinocerosproject · 5 years

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Artists-in-Residence at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles

From January through March of 2018, we were Artists-in-Residence at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. During our time there, we offered sewing circles, workshops, and exhibited work.

Irene Caravajal sewed with us!

Some visitors were more playful than others.

Some of our installation, “The Voyage of Ganda,” made from handmade paper, pulp prints, and papercutting.

As the residency progressed, our circles became closer and closer.

Below, the Rhinoceros as of March 2018.

#rhinocerosproject #embroidery #handmadepaper #cutpaper #installationart #sewingcircle

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rhinocerosproject · 5 years

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Museum of Jurassic Technology

Our first sewing circle of 2018 was at the Museum of Jurassic Technology. We were joined with many friends from Los Angeles, serenaded by David Wilson, and experienced the wonder and community around that space.

#museum of jurassic technology #sewing circle #embroidery #losangles #rhinocerosproject

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rhinocerosproject · 5 years

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Last sewing circle of 2017

Images from our last sewing circle of 2017, at Oakland’s Real Time and Space. We offered both a sewing circle and a Spice Trade Potluck! Above is Amy Ho’s deliicoooooouuuus curry soup.

#realtimeandspace #sewingcircle #embroidery #rhinocerosproject #collaboration

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rhinocerosproject · 6 years

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Some photos from the Rhinoceros Reading Room and Ephemera Collection on display from our time at Sonoma.

#reading room #sonoma #sonomastateuniversity #rhinocerosproject #ephemera #fossil #rhinohorn #socialpractice #arteutil #social pedagogy #albrechtdurer #durer

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rhinocerosproject · 6 years

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Rhinoceri in Sonoma

Due to a verrrry busy spring, we are completely behind on blog posts! Last November we were invited by Jenny Harp to be Visiting Artists at Sonoma State University. While we were there, we gave a lecture, held our first Spice Trade Potluck, offered another iteration of the Rhinoceros Reading Room, and held a sewing circle and a papermaking happening. All within two days!

We began with a lecture to students about the development of the project and how our ideas were evolving as we delved further into the constellation of ideas surrounding The Rhinoceros Project – colonialism, imperialism, habitat decimation, wonder, reconnecting with our bodies and the land, and the whole of the complexities of our time.

That evening, we hosted our first Spice Trade potluck. Durer’s Rhinoceros travelled to Lisbon via the newly discovered seafaring passage to and from India: down the west coast of Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope, back up the eastern coast, and across the Indian Ocean. In 1497, Vasco da Gama set out in search of this route in order to cut out the middlemen in the Mediterranean who had exclusive control on the spice trade. Operating on orders from the same Portuguese king who received our Rhinoceros in 1515, da Gama found a direct path to the city of Calicut, also known as The City of Spices, giving Portugal a firm hold on the spice trade as well as a site for colonization and growing empire.

Above, roasting spices for our curry dish.

Below, a sneak peak at our Rhinoceros Reading Room installed at SSU - stayed tuned for an upcoming post!

We spent the next day in the printshop of the Sonoma State University Art Department.

The day consisted of a sewing circle and papermaking in the printshop. Participants were invited to make sheets of paper from pre-made watermarks - see below.

This watermark incorporates a pattern from Indian textiles. We will also be offering this watermark for sale on our “Support the Project” page soon!

It was a very chilly day for vats of pulp and wet hands!

Our friend CK Itamura came by the make paper and sew!

Sonoma, as well as Napa, Lake, and Mendocino Counties had recently been devastated by the 2017 North Bay fires. The struggles of the community were a part of the conversations around the sewing circle that day.

Below, art student Gio shares some amusing anecdotes while contributing stitches to the project.

As the day ended, we left wet papers drying on the windows of the printshop.

Below, the rhinoceros embroidery as of December 1, 2017.

#rhinocerosproject #handpapermaking #papermaking #papermaker #papelhechoamano #embroidery #arteutil #bordar #sewingcircle #sonomastateuniversity #sonoma #readingroom #spicetrade #potluck

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rhinocerosproject · 6 years

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Watermarks in Chico!

While we were in Chico, in addition to our sewing circles at the Turner Museum, we also offered a Watermark workshop to students and Chico community members.

Above, Michelle discusses hydrogen bonding to the crowd of workshop participants.

Above, workshop participants cut their watermark stencils out of vinyl. Since we didn’t have enough molds for everyone in the class to attach their watermark to, we used nylon window screening that was laid over the molds while pulling they pulled their sheets. This also enabled participants to carry their watermarks home easily.

We prepared yellow and blue rag pulp for the class, and had two vats of each color going, as well as a rinse vat for whenever anyone wanted to change colors.

Below, some watermarks from the workshop:

But our favorite watermark from the class had to be this one:

#watermarks #watermarkworkshop #rhinocerosproject #rhinoceroswatermark #chico #csuchico #turner museum #janet turner #handmadepaper #papermaking #papermaker #papelhechoamano #marca de agua

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rhinocerosproject · 6 years

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Janet Turner Print Museum

A whirlwind winter and spring have left us with a great deal of blogging to catch up on! Last October, we were thrilled to offer a sewing circle and watermark workshop (more on that in the next post) at the Janet Turner Print Museum in Chico!

Janet Turner was an artist and a professor at California State University, Chico, from 1959-1981, where she taught printmaking. As an artist-instructor, she said, “I bought as many styles and techniques as possible, regardless of the reputation of the artist, because, in teaching printmaking, every new technique is interesting, and different ideas and different styles should interest different students, rather than trying to teach one method and rather than trying to teach my viewpoint.“ (source).

Turner was one of several women who preserved printmaking as an art form in academia during the twentieth century. In addition to her studio practice and teaching, she built a significant and noteworthy collection of prints, now housed in the museum that bares her name.

Yet to us, her interest in botany and studying nature through her art practice are what we find most compelling. During a time when the art world was fixated on abstract expressionism, she was creating accurate and compelling depictions of the natural world. According to curator Catharine Sullivan, she saw herself as some sort of archaic throwback, however, we see her as a woman ahead of her time.

With this in mind, it seemed apt to bring rhinoceros watermark, based on the work of Albrecht Durer, another printmaker who strived to accurately depict nature, to the Turner. Yet, as has been stated before, Durer’s image, derived from a description and a sketch, has a few inaccuracies. So it was fitting that one of the first classes to visit us was a seminar that was examining “truthiness.”

Later that afternoon, a drawing class joined us. Some of the students chose to sew while others sketched.

One of the student drawings of the sewing circle:

Participants that day included Chico community members, university staff, faculty and students, and even Turner museum curator Catharine Sullivan, pictured below:

Our progress as of October 23, 2018:

So many thanks to the staff of the Turner, including Catharine, Laura, Daria, and Johnny, Chico faculty Eileen and Adria, as well as Nancy, Jazmin, Marie, Aubrie, and everyone who contributed a stitch during our time there.

#janet turner #turner museum #rhinocerosproject #sewingcircle #chico #csuchico #embroidery #collaboration #colaboración #bordar #arteutil #albrechtdurer

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rhinocerosproject · 6 years

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Eco Echos: Unnatural Selection

March 3 – April 15, 2018

Anne Beck, Barbara Boissevain, Ginger Burrell, Judith Selby Lang, Richard Lang, Kent Manske, Michelle Wilson, Nanette Wylde

WORKS/San José, art and performance center 365 South Market Street San José, California workssanjose.org

Gallery hours: Fridays 12 – 6 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 12 – 4 pm Opening Night: First Friday, March 2, 7 – 10 pm

South First Fridays Art Walk: Friday, March 2, 7 – 10 pm April 6, 7 – 10 pm Eclectic evenings of Arts & Culture in downtown San José’s SoFA district. www.southfirstfridays.com

Exhibition Programming

Sunday March 11, 2pm Informal Artist Talk with Kent Manske Conversation with Kent Manske around his installation Cell Garden. Points of departure will include biology, interconnectedness, life cycles, health, healing and epistemology. The artist will briefly talk about his experimental approach using screen printing to produce one-of-a-kind prints that evolve, mutate and synthesize from blank states to living, thriving organisms.

Saturday, April 7, 2pm Informal Artist Talk with Ginger Burrell “Subversive Comfort: Artists’ Books as a Tool for Raising Social Consciousness” Artist Ginger Burrell will discuss the use of the book format by artists to explore political and social concerns. What is it about artists’ books that provide a unique opportunity and approachability not usually found in other artistic media? How can the selection of content, materials, images, scale and design engage a viewer and communicate an artist’s message? Explore examples of artists’ books that attempt to raise social consciousness, including three works by the artist included in the Echo Echo exhibition.

Sunday April 8, 4:30pm Panel: “Big Dirty Secrets: Three Photographers Engaging in Environmental Advocacy in the San Francisco Bay” Photographers Judith Selby Lang, Richard Lang and Barbara Boissevain will discuss their ongoing photography projects that address environmental issues in the San Francisco Bay Area. The panelists will share how the devices they use in their work aim to provoke discourse on local issues and encourage environmental stewardship. They will also discuss the relationship between contemporary photography and environmental and social advocacy, including the “Apocalyptic Sublime.” Managed and moderated by Barbara Boissevain.

Saturday, April 14, 4:30 – 6:30pm “Constellations in Paper,” Bookmaking workshop with Anne Beck and Michelle Wilson In this workshop, learn the basic of embroidery on paper. Bring a design of your own or use one provided to sew a design onto a sheet of decorative paper. Embroidery on paper can be a little different that the traditional form on fabric, but still can create a wondrous and exquisite design. At the end of this workshop, this embroidered paper can stand alone, or participants will have the option of turning it into a cover for a handmade book! No embroidery or bookbinding experience necessary, all materials provided.

In addition, Anne and Michelle are Artists in Residence at the San Jose Quilt and Textile Museum through March 24, working on the Rhinoceros Project. Visit www.sjquiltmuseum.org/artist-residency/ to learn how to participate in sewing circles and paper-making happenings.

Exhibition Statement

We live in a time of heightened ecological awareness and denial. Climate change, environmental degradation, species extinction, bio-engineering, and genetic modifications are just a few of the issues in which actions, decisions and consequences are engaging our social and political conversations.

Ecology also refers to a sort of housekeeping--the manner and nature with which environments are cared for. Technology and the increased scale of our actions has resulted in ecological effects which transcend physical borders, often causing individual entities to lose control of the care and quality of their physical existence; and providing others opportunities for both care taking and/or exploitation.

Our understanding of ecological issues is tied to the wonder and magnificence of science; the scope and reach of which has permeated our existence. Science continues to discover, uncover and invent phenomena beyond common comprehension, often inserting these into our personal lives without our knowledge, consent, or well-being as priorities.The scientific paradigm provides many positive outcomes yet these often include harmful and sometimes unacknowledged negative effects. Monoculture, medical interventions, genetically modified foods, robotics, and pharmaceuticals are obvious examples. These concerns encircle our planet, and with each minute movement, create waves of concern and delight--echos which reverberate in the lives, if not the minds, of earth's inhabitants.

Eco Echo: Unnatural Selection presents an array of artists who respond to aspects of our ecological environment in unexpected and diverse ways. Each artist is grappling with some ecological concern, creating echos which are celebratory, poignant, beautiful, complex, and provide opportunity for audience examination and reflection.

Image above: Work-in-progress pulp paintings by the Rhinoceros Project for their upcoming installation at Works Gallery.

#worksgallery #ecology #rhinocerosproject #handmadepaper #pulppainting #artistresidency #unnatural selection #papermaking #papelhechoamano #papermaker #ecologicalart #environmentalart #pulpprint #voyage #spicetrade #vasco da gama #goa #lisbon

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