Aliza Thomas
Our rapidly changing times make a 50 year span “a long time”. Everything started in the Negev desert, where I used to lived. To create my art, I once used paper imported from France.
However, in 1973, the Yom Kippur war broke out and as we know, wars change lives: importing “paper” was no longer possible. So, I decided to attempt producing paper with cotton rags, and using my grandmother’s sheets was my first experiment.
On my quest to identify less strenuous fibers, at University I read up on plants and learned about Mitnaan, which grows in the Negev desert. Collecting it requires a lot of walking and searching. Asao Shimura’s books contain many details about this plant and the paper production process. Mitnaan is a beautiful but difficult fiber to work with.
Vegetable fibers have now become my favorites, especially the Kozo and Gampi that I use today, which can be processed anywhere and without heavy equipment. Thus, I have created the opportunity for all to make paper and PaperArt all over the world, even in the desert.
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