What forms might healing take?

I became aware of the Combat Paper Project and the Warrior Writers about a year ago through a contact at Minnesota Center for Book Arts. The email said they thought these artists were right up my alley. Subsequently, I showed a Combat Paper Portfolio, made of handmade paper from pulped uniforms, a catharsis for the group of vets who produced it, a catharsis for the vets who viewed it here at Susan Hensel Gallery.

Art takes various forms: comforting, recognizable, new, challenging, frightening... Healing does too. The Combat Papermakers and the Warrior Writers offer the opportunity for local vets of any conflict, of anytime, free of charge, to collaborate in a creative re-invention, a re-organization, a re-formating...a new way of thinking about the personal costs of their service.

The Combat Paper Project in Residence at MCBA September 21–28, 2009

MCBA and Susan Hensel Gallery are proud to host The Combat Paper Project for a week-long residency in MCBA’s studios. Through papermaking workshops, local veterans are given the opportunity to use uniforms worn in combat to create cathartic works of art. The uniforms are cut up, beaten into fiber and formed into sheets of paper. Later, text and imagery created by veterans are printed on the sheets. The public is welcome to visit MCBA’s studios and view the project in progress through the duration of the residency. Registration info at mnbookarts.org.

Please support this residency with your attendance, your donations, or your voice. Please tell others about this. It is far too important to ignore.

Full details are available at mnbookarts.org.