Paper Sonnet Broadside 2026

Paper Sonnet
translated and re-interpreted
In collaboration with Alexander Meisel

Paper Sonnet

Hand Papermaking Winter 2024

In this issue of Hand Papermaking, we explore how personal connections to place shape the practice of papermaking. Contributors share their deep ties to the landscapes they inhabit and imagine, illustrating how these influences inform their creative choices as artists, stewards of cultural memory, and advocates for preservation. Their work demonstrates how the traditions of hand papermaking offer a bridge between past and present, envisioning a future rooted in resilience and sustainability. Each contribution highlights a different perspective on memory, whether sensory, ancestral, intimate, or imagined, inviting us to engage deeply with the stories embedded in the craft of hand papermaking.

Contributors:

Chicago-based artists Megan Diddie and Aya Nakamura introduce their emerging papermaking studio Switch Grass Paper, sparking conversations about papermaking, prairie ecosystems, stewardship, and art.

Erin Dziedzic explores Virginia Jaramillo’s ethereal and delicate paper works, highlighting her time at Dieu Donné, where she developed unique and innovative hand-papermaking techniques.

Re-published for this issue, Javier Silverio, director of Taller Leñateros, shares an excerpt from Almanaque de los Leñateros (1987), a poetic account of the collective's sustainable papermaking practices, translated into English by guest editor Tamara Valdez.

Christopher Alex Chablé recounts the origin story of the Indigenous publishing collective Taller Leñateros, reflecting memorable visits in San Cristóbal de las Casas and St. Louis.

Taller Leñateros presents a paper sample inspired by the resilience and abundance of the Chiapas landscape.

Cekouat E. León-Peralta examines the economic pressures threatening amate papermaking traditions in San Pablito, Mexico.

James Ojacastro delves into ethnobotany, outlining the relationship between papermaking plants and their ecosystems through three perspectives: the naturalist, the ecologist, and the conservationist.

Alexandre Bonton adapts Japanese-style papermaking and tool making techniques to the Canadian landscape.

Guest editor Tamara Valdez reflects on her visit to Capellades, Spain, where she meets Victòria Rabal, Director of the Capellades Paper Mill Museum, whose decades-long work addresses the region’s papermaking history, environmental challenges, and efforts to sustain its heritage.‍

Diane J. Charnov gives us her take on “Eternal Paper,” an exhibition in the US and Denmark, curated by Helen Frederick.

Nicholas Cladis reviews Washi Memories in which Eleanor Burkett captures the unvarnished realities of papermaking in Kamikawasaki, Japan.

And, issue is accompanied by a paper sample of Papel Corona, Carolina Larrea describes her project of community healing and transformation of discarded material into art in Chile.

Tamara Valdez

I. The Mistranslation of Cotton

II. Past as Prologue

III. Field Herbarium

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