Paper: +Metal: A Radical Juxtaposition of Materials - Paperback

by Sandy Bleifer (Author), Debbie Zeitman (Designed by)

Beginning in the 1980s artist Sandy Bleifer's work became more sculptural and much of it emulated metal surfaces. In a desire to explore working directly with metal, she learned how to weld and found herself drawn to scraps of metal. Using them as a support and as a foil to her work in paper led to the Metal / Drawing series.

The metal selected was neither new nor perfect, but battered and weather beaten. The paper used was newsprint - an extremely unstable paper. This work was produced during a very traumatic life experience prompting the artist to use her own blood on some of the drawings as a painting material. In a very short period of time, the blood completely disappeared, just as the pain of those days eventually went away.

The Metal / Drawings juxtapose the inherent qualities of metal and paper: hardness v. softness, strength v. vulnerability. The drawings, which are on newsprint, darkens and becomes even more brittle over time. Burning the paper to produce ash adds to its fragility. Nevertheless, the drawings cling to their metal supports while the metal continues to rust at a slow pace.

Rusted metal is a recurrent foil to the qualities of paper in Bleifer's ongoing work. Metal salvaged from a fellow artist's studio fire is also juxtaposed with paper in several sculptural works.