ZARINA (B. 1937)

Zarina’s interest in paper pulp arose during a visit to Sanganer, Rajasthan in the late 1960s where the artist watched locals make handmade paper. Realizing the potential of paper, Zarina went on to study papermaking in New York where she invented her own method for casting paper, creating moulds and pouring pulp into them until a final object was created.

Combining the artist’s interest in architecture and geometry, we can read these monochromatic works like Pool II “[…] as a re-configuring of the flat patterns of earlier prints into sculptural forms. What is interesting about the process is that it was accomplished altogether by hand without the use of tools or a printing press [...] Zarina as a sculptor has invented a process whereby she can cast, color and surface her materials, in one breath.” (R. Kimbril, ‘A Personal Language of Geometry and Architecture’, Paper Houses, New Delhi, 2007, pp. 4-5)