Untitled, laid lines 2, 2016 (detail on right)                                                         12 x 8 in                                                                                                 handmade paper from Denmark

Untitled, laid lines 1, 2016 (detail on right)                                                         12 x 8 in                                                                                                 handmade paper from Denmark

Below is an image of a backlit sheet of antique laid line paper taken from a book about the Brunshaab antique papermill in Denmark:

The gridded watermark seen in this image is imbued in the paper from the sewn wire mesh of a laid line papermaking mold. 

Untitled (laid lines 1 and 2) began as smooth, pristine sheets of handmade laid paper (paper made on a laid line mold). In the words of Elana Herzog, I "appropriate the composition" of the watermarked grid by placing each sheet on a light table and scouring the grid found there. Scouring tools include sewing and bookbinding needles. I then painstakingly define the contours of each line with a fine tipped burnishing tool. Phases of scouring and burnishing are interspersed with application of konnyaku paste to help maintain the integrity of the sheet and to make the fibers more receptive to manipulation. Konnyaku is traditionally used in Japanese momigami technique to render the paper waterproof and fabric-like. Wrinkles and ridges emerge with the repeated dampening and drying after each application of the konnyaku paste. The tedious, violent, obsessive scouring and burnishing slowly reveal the paper's intrinsic structure, indelibly bringing to relief the story of the paper’s manufacture.