About the Artist

Hi, I’m May Babcock, a papermaking artist who uses natural materials, bringing the voice of waterways into contemporary art.

Based in New England, I start with sketching and researching rivers and coastlines, oceans and ponds. I foraged for natural site materials such as novel plant fibers, seaweed, pondweeds, water, and pigments to transform into handcrafted paper art. As a multiracial artist of Taiwanese Chinese descent, I search for belonging by witnessing place and using found materials and plants originating from Asia and Europe.

In the studio, innovative papermaking techniques fuse watery pulp into textured paintings, analog prints, organic sculptures, and expansive installations. Each fibrous paper artwork expresses the complex interconnections inherent in the Earth’s waterways. My eco-centric art is a way for you to grow a deeper bond with the nature and materiality of place. It’s a way for you to feel their psychologies, ecological realities, and marginalized human histories—all through contemporary craft.

Art gives opportunities for communication and healing in our climate-changed world.

Select Exhibitions + Public Art

RISD Museum of Art, Fitchburg Art Museum, New Bedford Whaling Museum, The National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute, The Center for Book Arts, Danforth Art Museum, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Roger Tory Peterson Institute, URI Providence Campus Gallery, Society of Arts & Crafts, World’s Fair Gallery. Public art: Brown University, Illinois State Museum, T.F. Green International Airport, the Rhode Island State House, Providence City Hall.

Education

M.F.A. Louisiana State University, B.F.A. University of Connecticut (Summa Cum Laude)

Collections

RISD Museum, Winifred Ross Reily Collection, AC Hotel Madison, Private collections.

Teaching

Rhode Island School of Design, School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, Brown University, Penland School of Crafts, Women's Studio Workshop, Pyramid Atlantic Art Center.

Select Press + Publications

Art New England, Hand Papermaking Magazine, Rhode Island Monthly, International Association for Great Lakes Research, Motif Magazine, Providence Art & Letters, Cyanotype: The Blueprint in Contemporary Practice.

Select Awards

New England Foundation for the Arts Public Art Learning Grant, Citizen Citation for Environmental Education from the Mayor of Providence RI, National Arts Strategies Creative Community Fellowship, NEA Our Town Grant unLOCK, Brown Arts Initiative Annual Mural Grant, Rhode Island Environmental Education Association Annual Summit Keynote Speaker, Rhode Island State Council for the Arts Project Grant, White Mountain National Forest Artist in Residence, Salve Regina University Artist in Residence, Cape Cod National Seashore / Peaked Hill Trust Artist in Residence, Guadalupe Mountains National Park Artist in Residence, Spring Island Artist in Residence, Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Artist in Residence.