Pamela See uses papercutting to engage with natural histories, historical events and cultural symbols. Gatherings of these delicate forms create spaces of wonder and enlightening narratives. Off the Pages, Between the Lines applies this practice to the history of the Redlands and, specifically, to recognising the contribution of Chinese immigrants to the area and its agricultural past.
Inspired by a photograph from 1906 depicting workers huts at Mt Cotton, where Chinese farmers used to reside, See has undertaken further research into the social and natural history of the region. Paper silhouettes memorialise these workers and sit alongside elaborate papercuts depicting both introduced agricultural produce and local and migratory flora and fauna. The intricate, time-consuming process of creating these paper forms imbues them with symbolic significance, which emphasises both the fragility of this environment and the labour that has transformed it.
The exhibition includes Cropped, an installation based on woodblock prints and drawings that were produced by local participants in workshops facilitated by See. This work, and its process, further expands the visibility of Chinese migration and labour in the region and intertwines this historical narrative with a celebration of the present-day local community.
Off the Pages, Between the Lines continues See’s articulation of papercutting, inspired by techniques specific to her ancestry in the Guangdong Province, as a method for recording stories that connect the past and present.
RAG, Cleveland
SUNDAY 16 JUNE 2024 –
TUESDAY 30 JULY 2024
Opening Event:
6pm, Friday 14 June 2024
Artist Conversation:
10am, Sunday 16 June 2024
Full workshop and event progam
Pamela See, Growing Fortune (detail, in progress), 2023. Arches watercolour paper and acid free glue. Courtesy of the Artist.