The installation titled “In Deep Water – We’re in This Together” opens Dec. 2, 2023 at Live Forever Foundation Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan. https://www.live-forever.com.tw/foundation-news-content.php?page=1&index_id=75 The installation of handmade paper and printmaking by Santa Rosa, California, artists Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback, consists of 36 panels presented as a site-specific installation in the magnificent gallery space at Live Forever Foundation Gallery and aims to initiate some international dialogue about our global climate crisis and its effects on the water situation in countries around the world. Taiwan and California have different problems with water, too little most of the time in California and too much sometimes in Taiwan. Everywhere we are experiencing rising waters and temperatures, increased I’ve severity of storms and other effects of climate change. The installation is part of the exhibition “Water Says” curated by Taiwanese curator Iris Hung. Jane and Jami and their husbands are in Taiwan for 10 days to do the site-specific installation and attend the opening reception, present public programs and a hands-on workshop in papermaking and printmaking related to the environment and water. Thanks to the Live Forever Foundation for their support and enthusiasm for environmental art and how it can contribute to raising public awareness around the world about our current global environmental crisis. Here are a few photos of our “In Deep Water” installation in Taiwan. The Foundation also engaged a Taiwanese modern dancer to create a performance with our installation!
Taiwanese Dancer performing for the opening reception of “Water Says” exhibition and interacting with the “In Deep Water” installation by artists Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback.Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback speaking with journalists about their “In Deep Water” installation at Live Forever Foundation Gallery in Taichung, Taiwan, on Nov. 30, 2023. “In Deep Water – We’re in This Together” view of one side of the installation by Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback, at Live Forever Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan.
More photos will be posted on this Blog and other sites soon. All photos are by Jane’s husband Timothy S. Allen.
The collaborative art project of Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback opens Saturday, Dec. 2, 3-5 pm at Live Forever Foundation Vital Space Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan. The site-specific installation about water and climate change is on display until March 2, 2024, at the gallery in Taichung. The installation in Taiwan is part of the exhibition titled “Water Says” curated by Iris Hung, and also featuring work by two Taiwanese artists about water and the environment. The two artists from Santa Rosa, CA will be in Taiwan until Dec. 5, when they return to CA. Jane and Jami and their husbands Tim and Steve are enjoying touring around Taiwan and meeting interesting people, eating great food and sharing their art. Here are a few photos of “In Deep Water” being installed at Live Forever Foundation in Taichung. The photos are by Timothy S. Allen. Follow this link for more info about the Live Forever Foundation: https://www.live-forever.com.tw/foundation.php
Jane Ingram Allenand collaborating artist Jami Taback will exhibit their installation titled In “Deep Water – We’re All in This Together” at Live Forever Foundation’s Vital Space Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan, Dec. 2, 2023 – April 2, 2024. The two Northern California artists began collaborating on this project in August 2021 and have continued to add to the installation, exhibiting it at 4 different galleries in the US in 2022 and 2023. This will be its first international presentation. The Taiwan exhibition of “In Deep Water” is part of a group show titled “Water Says” curated by independent curator Iris (Ping-chi) Hung). Jane and Jami have received support from the Live Forever Foundation for travel to Taiwan and to teach a workshop on hand papermaking and printmaking and to share their process and ideas about our current global climate crisis. The artists will be in Taiwan doing a site-specific installation and related public programs, Nov. 23 – Dec. 4, 2023. Public Opening Reception and Gallery Talk, Dec. 2, 2023; Workshop, Dec. 3, 2023.
“In Deep Water” installation at Sonoma Community Center Gallery, Sonoma, CA, January-February 2022“In Deep Water” installation at Discovery Hall, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, April – August 2022“In Deep Water – Rising” installation at Gallery Route One, Pt. Reyes Station, CA, Oct. 2022“In Deep Water” installation Nov. 2022 – April 2023 at Tides Converge Gallery, the Presidio, San Francisco, CA
Photos of the California “In Deep Water” installations are by Timothy S. Allen. The photo of the Rowan University installation is courtesy of Rowan University Art Gallery Director, Mary Salvante.
View of “Jane Ingram Allen – Papermaking Around the World” exhibition at Mountain View Performing Arts Center
Solo Exhibition in Mountain View, CA: “Jane Ingram Allen – Papermaking Around the World” at Mountain View Performing Arts Center Lobby Gallery, August 15 – Oct. 2, 2023. For more information: https://www.mvcpa.com/events/lobby-art.
This exhibition features a selection of handmade paper “site map” works Jane has created as an artist-in-residence in countries around the world including Taiwan, Japan, Costa Rica, Brazil, Tanzania, Indonesia (Bali) and the USA. Jane was one of 10 artists selected by the City of Mountain View Visual Art Committee for an exhibition in 2023. The mixed-media works are all made with handmade paper, thread and other materials Jane collected in each place and reflect her experience of the time and place. Exhibit hours are Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 12 p.m. – 1 pm, and one hour prior to every public performance. See the Calendar of Events for performance dates and times: https://www.mvcpa.com/events/calendar The lobby is also open during Box Office hours for the Mountain View Performing Arts Center, and most of the work can also be viewed through the many large windows in this interesting building at 500 Castro Street in downtown Mountain View, CA, next to City Hall. The show is up through Oct. 2, 2023.
Summer so far has been very busy! It has also gotten very hot after a rather cool June. I have been making new works and building a new papermaking mold and deckle for creating really BIG sheets of paper as well as having family visits and getting ready for teaching workshops and installing new exhibitions.
Educator Grant from Surface Design Association: I received a 2023 Educator grant from the Surface Design Association to make a Portable Large Papermaking Mold and Deckle. I needed a large papermaking mold that could be transported in our car for the EXTREME Papermaking Workshop I am teaching at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology(www.sitkacenter.org), in Otis, Oregon, August 5 and 6. The workshop is already full, and I am looking forward to working with these students at this beautiful place on the central Oregon coast.
Here is a photo of the new portable folding papermaking mold that can make sheets of paper 7 feet x 3 feet using a pouring method. This should be fun to use in the workshop – just one of the many papermaking techniques I will cover in this workshop that includes all sorts of inventive and EXTREME ways of making paper that I have discovered in my papermaking travels around the world. I will now be able to use this foldable large papermaking mold and deckle for other papermaking workshops I will be teaching in Santa Rosa and surrounding areas.
Article in Summer 2023 FiberArts Magazine: Speaking of travel around the world my article “Papermaking Around the World” was just published in the Summer 2023 issue of FiberArt Now. Here is a link for a summary of the article: https://www.fiberartnow.net/summer-2023/
Scroll down to my article “Papermaking Around the World” and see an image of my Izmir, Turkey Site Map and read about my papermaking adventures as an artist in residence in 5 countries: Costa Rica, Tanzania, Turkey, Bali and Taiwan. The Summer 2023 issue can be ordered at www.fiberartnow.net
Izmir Site Map (front view), 2015, mixed media on handmade paper from plants of Izmir, Turkey, created during Fulbright Specialist Artist in Residency at Ege University Museum of Book and Paper Arts, Izmir, Turkey, 60″ x 48″ two-sided suspended installation.
Upcoming Exhibitions:
Solo Exhibition in Mountain View, CA: “Jane Ingram Allen – Papermaking Around the World” at Mountain View Performing Arts Center Lobby Gallery, August 15 – Oct. 2, 2023. For more information: https://www.mvcpa.com/events/lobby-art.
This exhibition features a selection of handmade paper “site map” works I have made as an artist-in-residencies in countries around the world including Taiwan, Japan, Costa Rica, Brazil, Tanzania, Indonesia, Thailand, and the USA. Exhibit hours are Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 12 p.m. – 1 pm, and one hour prior to every public performance. See the Calendar of Events for performance dates and times: https://www.mvcpa.com/events/calendar
“Turning Over a New Leaf” (detail), 2000, mixed media participatory installation of 2000 handmade paper kozo fiber leaves made during artist in residency at Mino Paper Art Village Project, Mino City, Japan, 6 feet x 24 feet x 3 inches deep.
Exhibition in Taichung, Taiwan, Dec. 2, 2023 – April 2, 2024: “Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback – In Deep Water – We’re In This Together” will be a site-specific installation of collaborative work utilizing Handmade Paper and Printmaking by the two artists created in response to our present climate crisis and relating to water. The exhibition will be in the Live Forever Foundation Vital Space Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan, and is curated by Iris Hung. The show also includes works on water and the climate crisis by two Taiwanese artists. Jane and Jami will travel to Taiwan in late November and stay for 10 days to create this installation of the ‘In Deep Water” project emphasizing that water and climate change are global problems. The artists will present a Gallery Talk at the opening on Saturday, Dec. 2, and the public is invited. The artists will also teach a hands-on workshop in Taiwan about papermaking and printmaking and their process for creating the 36 suspended panels of printed-on handmade paper joined with threads.
In Deep Water collaborative installation by Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback (detail), 2022-23, mixed media installation of handmade paper, thread, printmaking, ink, gel, burning and other materials, 36 panels each about 2 feet wide and 12-18 feet long, suspended site installation shown here at Sonoma Community Center in January 2022.
Wishing you a Happy 4th of July! I am sharing one of the many American Flag pieces I have made using hand papermaking and mixed media techniques. This one is Rainbow Flag, made in 2002, dimensions 4′ x 6′, handmade paper created by the artist from abaca and cotton pulp, acrylic paint, thread, mylar, photo by Timothy S. Allen.
FiberArt Now‘s Summer 2023 edition is out July 1, 2023, with my article “Papermaking Around the World.” Scroll down at this link to see an image and summary of the article.
Jane Ingram Allen and Seppo Hallavainio making a large sheet of handmade paper at Warm Heart Art Tanzania, in Arusha, Tanzania, January 2010. Photo by Timothy S. Allen
My art installation “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” is blooming again for the 4th season, 5 years after the devastating Tubbs wildfire swept through this area in Santa Rosa, CA. It is great to see the golden poppies and blue bachelor buttons blooming at the same time when this photo was taken on May 27, 2023. The white alyssum flowers have already bloomed earlier in the Spring this year. The handmade paper quilt was made with dyed handmade paper pulp containing seeds for wildflowers in the same colors and pattern. The quilt pattern used was a traditional one called “Flying Geese” and the geese were in blue pulp with seeds for bachelor buttons and the white background had seeds for alyssum flowers. The borders for this strip quilt were made with paper pulp dyed the bright yellow-orange of California poppies and had seeds for poppies in the pulp.
This artwork was installed on Nov. 29, 2018, the year after the devastating wildfire (Tubbs Fire) that severely affected the Fountain Grove area as well as other parts of Santa Rosa, California. This artwork was done with the support of a grant from the City of Santa Rosa that asked artists to respond to the fire. I created “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” with community participation and installed it at Rincon Ridge Park, Rincon Ridge Drive and Fountaingrove Parkway in northeast Santa Rosa, CA. When we installed this work and made the headboard and footboard with volunteers, we were all wearing masks due to the smoke still in the air and the polluted soil. There was also not any water in the park since the underground pipes had all melted with the heat of the wildfires that moved through this area. You can see the skeletons of burned trees and almost no houses still standing in the 2018 photo. In the 2023 photo there are many new houses that have been rebuilt on the hill behind the installation, and many bushes and trees are green again since water pipes have been replaced, and this year there has been lots of rain in California. The headboard for the “bed” fell down and was recycled into the earth after about three years, and the footboard is also starting to decompose and leaning heavily. The flowers continue to reseed and come back each year as the “living quilt” lives on.
These photos were taken by my husband Timothy S. Allen, and it is great to be able to continue documenting my art installation as it changes over time.
Jane Ingram Allen, Living Quilt for Santa Rosa, as installed on Nov. 29, 2018, at Rincon Ridge Park, Santa Rosa, CA, one year after the Tubbs Wildfire in October 2017. This art installation is made with handmade paper, seeds for wildflowers, dye, thread, branches, boards, potting soil, and its dimensions are 8 feet x 10 feet x 6 feet.
Jane Ingram Allen, Living Quilt for Santa Rosa, on May 27, 2023, at Rincon Ridge Park, Santa Rosa, CA, with golden poppies and bachelor button flowers in bloom for the 4th year since its installation. This public artwork was supported by a grant from City of Santa Rosa Public Art.
Jane was invited by Helen Hiebert, artist, author, teacher and papermaker, to appear on her monthly podcast called “Paper Talk”. Jane is the featured artist for April 2023. You can listen to the Podcast at this link: https://helenhiebertstudio.com/podcast/episode-106-jane-ingram-allen/
Here is an excerpt from the Notes that accompany the podcast with some images of Jane’s work:
Jane Ingram Allen is a sculptor and installation artist who uses hand papermaking with natural materials and collaborative processes to create indoor and outdoor artworks that raise public awareness about environmental issues. Jane has received numerous awards for residencies and community public art projects in the USA, the Philippines, Japan, Nepal, Brazil, China, Tanzania, Taiwan, Turkey, Indonesia and other countries. She was a Fulbright Scholar artist-in-residence in Taiwan in 2004 and 2005 and a Fulbright Specialist in Turkey in 2015. Jane is a former college art instructor and currently teaches workshops and writes about art for SCULPTURE and other art magazines as well as doing independent curating. She was born and raised in Alabama and has lived in 7 different states and in Taiwan for 8 years. Since 2012 she has been based in Santa Rosa, CA, and continues showing her work in the US and internationally.
We talked about how she got into environmental art, which is so well suited for handmade paper. And we discussed several of her environmental installations.
Allen works often with seeds and paper, and her first project with seeds in the pulp was titled Earth Quilt, created in 1995 (the 25th anniversary of Earth Day). You can see the progression of Allen’s work with students installing the piece on Earth Day 1995 at SUNY Morrisville in Morrisville, NY; the wildflowers starting to come up; and the field in full bloom several months after the quilt was planted.
Earth Quilt, 1995, 10 feet diameter, handmade paper, food coloring dye, seeds for wildflowers, photo by Timothy S. Allen.
Jane Ingram Allen has been invited by curator Maureen McNeil to show her work in the exhibition “Focus on the Flatfiles – the View from Red Hook” at Kentler International Drawing Space, Brooklyn, NY. The show opens on April 15 and continues through May 28, 2023. Jane’s work featured in the show is titled “Red Hook Site Map”, acrylic and collage on artist-made handmade paper created with materials collected in Red Hook during her 2003 residency at Kentler International Drawing Space. For more information: https://www.kentlergallery.org/Detail/exhibitions/544
Jane Ingram Allen, Red Hook Site Map, 2003, mixed media with paint and collage on artist made handmade paper created during residency at Kentler International Drawing Space, Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY, 6feet x 4 feet.
Jane has been invited to have a solo exhibition at Mountain View Performing Arts Center, Mountain View, CA, titled “Papermaking Around the World” that will feature a selection of handmade paper and mixed-media works Jane has created at artist in residency projects in over 15 different international countries as well as in the US. The show will open August 15, 2023 and continue through October 2, 2023. This exhibition is in the lobby of the historic performing arts center in downtown Mountain View. For more information: https://www.mountainview.gov/depts/cs/mvcpa/subsite/events/visual_arts.asp
Jane Ingram Allen, Sitka Salmon River Estuary Site Map, 2015, mixed media two-sided construction of handmade paper, thread, paint, collage, created during artist in residency at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology, Otis, Oregon, 4 feet x 6 feet. Photo by Timothy S. Allen (allentimphotos2.wordpress.com)
Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback have been invited to exhibit their collaborative project “In Deep Water” in Taiwan at the Live Forever Foundation Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan, from Dec. 2, 2023 to March 2, 2024. Jane and Jami will go to Taiwan in late November to do the site specific installation of this large scale multi-part work about water and climate change using hand papermaking and printmaking. The artists will also give gallery talks and a hands-on workshop in Taichung, Taiwan, at the Foundation’s Vital Space Gallery. The exhibition is being curated by Iris Hung and will be in the Foundation’s large and beautiful light filled gallery with 20 foot high ceilings. The artists will make a site-specific installation of their work in Taiwan using approximately 35 panels suspended from the ceiling in the space so that viewers can feel immersed in the installation.
Jane Ingram Allen & Jami Taback, “In Deep Water”, 2021-23, installation view from October-Nov. 2022 installation at Gallery Route One, Pt. Reyes Station, CA, mixed media site specific installation of handmade paper, thread, printmaking, multiple panels, each about 1-2 feet wide and 9-15 feet long. Photo by Timothy S. Allen.View of Vital Space Gallery, Live Forever Foundation, Taichung, Taiwan, showing where the “In Deep Water” project will be installed in late November 2023 and be on view through March 2, 2024.
Jane Ingram Allen Art Projects 