Art Nouveau with an attitude; artist Meg Black uses a papermaking technique to emulate the dynamic quality of nature.
Black uses a very unusual process in her work — both in her paintings and her sculptural work. She uses a special type of beater to macerate the pulp of the abaca plant, adds natural pigments and then mixes it with either cotton pulp for the paintings or epoxy in her sculptural work.
Abaca comes from a type of banana tree that is found primarily in the Philippines. The fiber is extracted from the inner bark of the tree and, according to Black, it is the strongest fiber in the world. Commercial uses of abaca include tea bags and the rope that the Navy uses in ships’ rigging. “Because it’s so strong it handles manipulation and painting really well,” says the artist. “It’s all natural, pure fiber, grown organically. There’s nothing synthetic and it holds the color really well. I want the colors to be vibrant and never fade.”
Currently, the Cousen Rose Gallery in Oak Bluffs is showcasing a number of Black’s sculptures, as well as some paintings — all made with abaca fiber. Especially stunning are the wall hanging sculptural pieces. Inspired by the ocean, the glossy sculptures feature waving blended strips of various shades of blue and white. Owing to the fact that the medium is actually handmade paper, each piece has folds and irregular shapes adding to the dynamic feel of the ocean. “I’ve always been fascinated by ocean waves,” says Black, who lives in Cape Ann on the South Shore of Massachusetts, and spends a great deal of time on Cape Cod and the Vineyard.
In her artist statement, Black writes, “My subject matter is nature which is full of texture and color. These qualities create the emotional pull nature has on us. My aim as an artist is to recreate these emotions in my artwork, allowing viewers to feel connected to the natural world and recapture the emotion of nature.”
Zita Cousens, owner of the Cousen Rose Gallery, has been showing Black’s paintings for a number of years. This season she added a selection of the sculptural pieces in keeping with her efforts to present a variety of media and include unique pieces that rely on a lot of texture and present the viewer with a different sort of perception.
Black, who is internationally recognized as a papermaking artist, has been working with various natural fibers for over 35 years. She is one of only a handful of artists working with abaca and she has become a pioneer in the exploratory medium. The artist’s work can be found in a number of U.S. embassies across the globe and in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. She is the 2023 recipient of the Sara Gilfert Award for paper excellence.
Black has also enjoyed an extensive career in education. Currently, she teaches art history at the Boston Architectural College. She cites the Art Nouveau movement as artistic inspiration. She refers to her work as “Art Nouveau with an attitude.”
The Art Nouveau movement, popularized in the late 19th and early 20th century, was often inspired by natural forms and featured curves and a sense of dynamism and movement.
Black explains how the Modernists rejected the work of Art Nouveau artists for being too feminine and decorative. “After years of the straight lines of modernism, Art Nouveau was refreshing and playful,” says Black. “I want to bring that attitude back to life.”
Visit Cousen Rose Gallery, 71 Upper Circuit Ave., Oak Bluffs. 617-939-3012, cousenrose.com.
