Lisa Miles
Desaparecida

Media: hand-beaten kozo, natural dyes
Size: 8" x 16" x .1"
$333

Artist Statement:
Beaten by hand with a volcanic stone on a wood board, these bast fiber works re-imagine the vistas of Northern New Mexico. This beaten bark paper series is a result of long, aimless walks in the high desert – an extreme form of social distancing. As I walked, I envisioned the people who once occupied these barren lands. I pondered the imaginary and physical borders that separate the United States and Mexico. I felt grief for missing and murdered Indigenous women and anger at our broken system. These landscapes attempt to emulate the beauty of nature while I acknowledge our failure as humans. This is how I make sense of the world when nothing makes sense. This is a muffled scream into the void. This is a peaceful protest.

On Process
A pulp painting creates images with pigmented pulp; in this process, I meditatively “draw” with plant-dyed kozo fiber. Inspired by ancient Aztec and Maya papermaking traditions, I have innovated the technique to produce imagery that is composed face-down during the wet stages of the formation process. The fiber is then hand-beaten with a stone and air-dried. The slightly-abstracted composition is revealed when the dried sheet is released from the board.

Biography

Lisa Miles is a papermaker and book artist who focuses on hand-beaten bark papers. She creates limited edition artist books under the imprint Dutchess Press. Originally from New England, Miles lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She holds an MFA in Book Arts from the University of Iowa Center for the Book, a BFA in Graphic Design from the New England School of Art & Design, and an Associate degree in Printmaking from the Santa Fe Community College. In 2017–2018, she represented the United States as a Fulbright Arts Researcher for her project “Bark Paper, Plant Dyes, and the Book Arts in Indonesia.” In 2018, Miles was awarded the Holle Award for Excellence in Book Arts from the University of Alabama. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is held in public and private collections.

http://dutchesspress.com/