Deborah Black’s handmade paper art sings nature’s praises. Her lush, multifaceted work blooms on the walls of the Feldman Family Artspace at the M.V. Film Center. We gleefully lose ourselves in the masterful combination of colors and forms that she crafts from handmade paper and colored pencils.
The exhibition, curated by Featherstone Center for the Arts, reveals Black’s sublime artistry in working with this ancient material. Paper’s invention is attributed to Ts’ai Lun, a Chinese court official in 105 A.D. The process is believed to have been kept secret until 751 A.D., and only reached North America in 1690, with the opening of the first paper mill, in Pennsylvania.
Black’s art experiences began in childhood. She fondly recalls creating drawings to hide under her parents’ pillows as little gifts at just 5 or 6 years old. Visiting museums with her parents, she was inspired by the bold colors and gestural brushwork of artists such as Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, and John Singer Sargent. But it wasn’t until her first class in making handmade paper in 1990 that Black found her true calling.
Black’s works are large. Sizes such as 20- by 26-inches and 39- by 31-inches increase their impact so that they move us on a visceral level. Pieces such as “Blooming Joy” reveal her multilayered approach. She begins by creating large areas of color from wet pulp, which, once dry, serves as the background for the work. Black then builds her composition by applying defined areas of color, such as those that become stems, leaves, and flowers. She further details some of those forms with colored pencils, as seen in the various petals of the phlox, hydrangea, and rose of Sharon that punctuate the composition.
Black adds or changes elements as she moves along, building her compositions intuitively. “What I love about creating the artwork is not planning ahead of time, but having it come from within me. Sometimes I step back and think, ‘Oh, why don’t I do this, or have something jump out more? It feels like I’m never done.” Fully absorbed in the flow, she will lose track of time. “When I’m engaged in the very tactile process of making paper and then creating artwork with it, I am transported into a new world of colors, lines, textures, and shapes.”
Black abstracts her images from the Island’s bounty. “I have been awed by the beauty of Martha’s Vineyard since 1979, when I first visited. I find inspiration in the many nature sanctuaries, seaside surprises, oceans and ponds, and so much more … I feel, living on the Vineyard, there’s something beautiful along every pathway.”
Each composition is a composite of something Black has seen. She uses photos of flowers as inspiration. The geraniums in “Blossoming Beauty” dance along the paper with the small white fleabanes accenting the floral composition. The gestural quality of her lines accentuates the sense of movement: “What I like is where you can really feel the gesture of the artist behind the artwork.”
During a visit to the island of Naushon, Black came across the French Watering Place, a pond just over the dunes. The scene inspired the artwork of that title with great swathes of color punctuated by bold images of the sun, a distant multi-colored hued tree, and brilliant red rocks. “But it’s more a creation of my imagination,” she explains.
Black uses imported, delicate iridescent mesh to create the beauty beneath the sea in her evocative “Underwater Wonders.” She skews separate large rectangles of sea green and blue paper to create a form that recalls a Japanese kimono on display. Black layers on additional elements, such as finely finished fish, and orange and pink imported handmade paper punctuated with holes, reminiscent of coral.
Black notes, “Featherstone provided the impetus to get more involved with my artwork. When I moved here full-time in 2023, I really hadn’t been doing any artwork for years. Even though I wanted to, I hadn’t had time. When I read about Featherstone’s Anonymous Art Show, I made two handmade paper pieces for it, which really got me started again, and I just loved it.”
Black continues, “I had been looking for my voice, and as I developed so much joy being here on the Vineyard, I felt bolder and wanted to have that reflected in my artwork. This is the first exhibit that really reflects who I am. I’d love for people to remember the joy they’ve experienced in nature — to make them feel wonderful, bringing back the memories they’ve had.”
“Bountiful Nature” is on view at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center through Oct. 5. Artist reception Sunday, Sept. 21, 1 to 3 pm. Follow her on Instagram at debeblack.art.
