Where Paper Remembers
Original works on Hanji paper
Where Paper Remembers is a collection of original works on Hanji, traditional Korean paper made from the inner bark of the paper mulberry tree. Working with ink and acrylic, I explored botanical forms through fluid washes, layered colour and expressive marks. Hanji’s textured, absorbent surface becomes part of the process: pigment settles into the fibres, edges soften, and forms emerge with an organic unpredictability.
The collection reflects my continuing interest in gardens, nature and memory — and in the traces that fleeting encounters with the natural world leave behind.
A richly worked bloom anchors a field of coral flowers, blue accents and deep foliage. I kept returning to the centre and building outward, the way a garden seems to reveal more the longer you stand in it.
Mixed media on Hanji paper, 8” × 11.5”
This one began with the feeling of a garden in full summer. Pink flowers crowd into the greenery and a small blue butterfly has found its way into the middle of it all. It’s bright, busy and joyful — like those gardens where there is always something new to notice.
Mixed media on Hanji paper, 8” × 11.5”
Deep red and smoky purple flowers sit against washes of turquoise, green and yellow. The colours made me think of a garden just after rain, when everything suddenly looks darker, brighter and more saturated.
Ink and acrylic on Hanji paper, 8” × 11.5”
Burgundy flowers and soft pink blooms sit against a deeper, moodier background. I was drawn to the colours flowers take on later in the day, when the garden loses some of its brightness but becomes richer and more dramatic.
Ink and acrylic on Hanji paper, 8” × 11.5”
Hanji (한지) is traditional Korean paper, historically handmade from the inner bark fibres of the dak, or paper mulberry tree. Its long fibres give the paper strength, durability and a distinctive tactile surface. Hanji has a long history in Korea and has been used for writing, books, artwork and objects made for everyday life.
Why this medium?
I was drawn to Hanji because it doesn’t behave like canvas. Ink can move into the fibres, soften at the edges and leave unexpected variations in colour. Acrylic gives me a way to come back over those softer passages with more definite flowers, leaves and marks. I like that I can guide the painting without controlling every part of it.
That felt right for this collection. Gardens are never completely still or orderly, and memories aren’t either. Some details stay vivid while others blur, overlap or disappear. Hanji gave me a surface where I could let that happen.
White flowers appear among green, burgundy and warm golden marks. Rather than painting a particular place, I was thinking about how we remember gardens — a flower here, a colour there, and the rest becoming less distinct.
Ink and acrylic on Hanji paper, 8” × 11.5”
Dark crimson flowers sit against soft washes of green, orange and red. I kept this piece relatively simple, letting the rich colour of the flowers do most of the work.
Ink and acrylic on Hanji paper, 8” × 11.5”
White flowers spill across layers of turquoise, green and blue, while the deep purple marks in the foreground suggest a gate or trellis. I like the feeling that the garden is continuing beyond what we can see — a little unruly, colourful and full of life.
Mixed media on Hanji paper, 8” × 11.5”
Nothing in this garden stays neatly in place. Flowers, leaves, colour and loose marks move across the paper in different directions. I wanted it to have the feeling of a garden that has been allowed to grow freely.
Ink and acrylic on Hanji paper, 8” × 11.5”