Blackstone Watershed Papers
Blackstone Watershed Papers was a temporary wheat-paste installation of 6 paperworks on building surfaces in downtown Pawtucket, Rhode Island, exploring place through the medium of papermaking and cyanotype—both historical industrial technologies and contemporary handcrafts. The artist-made papers are made of locally found pondweed and plants that are ecologically troublesome for the the Blackstone River Watershed, and each contact print uses the actual plants as silhouettes.
Cyanotype is a historical photographic process that was most famously used in 1853 by Anna Atkins to study and record plants. Parallel to this technological development, Pawtucket was becoming the birthplace of the American industrial revolution. This project reflects upon connections between these histories, local plant ecologies in the past and present, and the important role of the Blackstone River in the shaping of the local landscape. Viewers used a Google Map of the installation sites, walking around downtown to view the works.
Blackstone Watershed Papers, cyanotype on artist-made paper from water chestnut (Trapa natans), Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica), Eurasian milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum), cotton waste scrap, abaca, 6 at 3ft diameter, 2018.
September - October 12 2018
Locations: Machines with Magnets, Pawtucket School Department Administration, Pawtucket Downtown Parking Garage, McDevitt Building, Cape Verdean American Community Development, Pawtucket City Hall
This project was generously supported by the Pawtucket Arts Festival and the City of Pawtucket.
Special thanks to studio assistants, and Arthur Plitt and Judy Hadley from the Blackstone River Watershed Council for peaking my interest in the Blackstone River, Japanese knotweed, and water chestnut.
The Blackstone River as it falls over rocks in downtown Pawtucket, RI, turning into the tidal Seekonk River.
Japanese Knotweed, Fallopia japonica
Water Chestnut, Trapa natans