Ripples, 2019

16″ x 20″ Acrylic, dyed nylon string, on found textile. Photo by: Patrick Sweeney

M[o]the[r], 2019

23.5″ x 23.5″ Acrylic on found textile Photo by: Patrick Sweeney

Woven Tears, 2019

24″x24″ Acrylic and ink on canvas. Photo by: Patrick Sweeney

Intrusion, 2019

20″ x 15″ x 6″ Cotton Gauze, steel, thread. Photo by: Patrick Sweeney

Intertwined, 2019

Acrylic, twine & steel on stretched, found textile. Photo by: Sara Hill

Pinsulated, 2019

16″ x 4″, 14.5″ x 4″, 13″ x 4″ Found porcelain pin insulators, wood, nylon rope, steel Photo by: Sara Hill

Pinsulated, 2019

Porcelain Pin Insulators, Wood, Stainless Steel, hand woven rope. Photo by: Patrick Sweeney

Gathering Hope

December 21, 2019 Solo Exhibition Photo by: Sara Hill

Visible, 2019

18″ x 24″ Acrylic on found textile Photo by: Patrick Sweeney

Solitude, 2019

24″ x 48″ Acrylic, modeling paste, embroidery and ink on canvas Photo by: Sara Hill

Un-Moored, 2019

18″ x 24″ + Rope Flashe paint, nylon rope, steel cleat on canvas. Photo by: Patrick Sweeney

Gathering Hope

December 21, 2019 Solo Exhibition Photo by: Sara Hill

River of Memories, 2018

12″x12″ Acrylic on Board

Golden Escape, 2019

Acrylic on Canvas

On the Dock

ON THE DOCK by Holly Papa

Life-Less-Ordinary-9×12-RGB-Optimized-for-Web

LIFE LESS ORDINARY

ChicChicChic-8×10-Web-Optimized

PEEP, PEEP, PEEP

Intertwined, 2019

12″ x 12″ Acrylic, twine & steel on stretched, found textile. Photo by: Sara Hill

Zoom!

Digital Canvas Print, hand stretched on frame, Oil paint

Bated Breath

2016, Mixed Media, Pastels and paint on paper with organic materials. Mounted on Board

Ruffled-Feathers-20×20-RGB-Web-Optimized

Mammary Gland Flower Fairy

MAMMARY GLAND FLOWER FAIRY

Gathering Hope

Solo Exhibition December 2019

Zoom Installation 4’x2.5′

Artist Statement:

I create to know what it is to be connected, to be understood, to give voice to quiet things. I source found and thrifted fabric remnants. This traditional evidence of women’s work serves as the basis for many of my paintings. I listen to the fabric as I stretch it and prepare it to receive new life- to be re-created. Emotions, story and narrative are key in my process- as important as pigment and canvas. In each remnant, there is a story. I add to this story embellished details, a twist in the plot, a new ending. I build upon a rich tradition of making. I paint to bring light to dark and scary things. I paint to be brave. I paint to talk about desires and hope. I paint about beautiful, personal experiences- to give voice to peace and stillness. I paint to heal the soul.

The gathering of fabrics and use of textiles as a foundation for my work is a metaphor of building on the history of women. My work celebrates the liberation of women’s creative nature to express, design and be free in metaphor through metal, sculpture and paint. I paint to claim the privilege of painting when many women before me were only given the right to weave and knit and sew. Many of my artistic heroines were barred from formal art studies.

Simultaneously narrative and abstract, my work is my story- a piece of me laid bare for all to see. To paint on textiles is to connect and become, an exercise in research and discovery that honors the craft of women. In my work, textiles, made canvas, become something new and altogether different, alluding to previous application, yet never able to become that thing again.

Contact Me

Zoom! Installation at Boise State University

Oil Paint and Vinyl, 2018