Melissa Jay Craig

Intrinsic, 48inch diameter, handmade paper

Blood Root 1, 22" diameter, Cast abaca, procion dyes

S-Edition, variable size, installation, handmade paper

S-Edition, variable sizes detail view

How We Think Of Stem, 18in diameter, handmade paper

Anaphase Amarinthine, 27 x 29 Handmade paper of abaca flax Kozo milkweed

Root Basis, 25 inch diameter, Cast abaca, kozo bark, dyes

Speechless, 10x4.5x6.5, Cast kozo, joomchi and hand-shaped kozo hanji and dyes

Speechless, 10 x 4.5 x 6.5, 2nd view- Cast kozo, joomchi and hand-shaped kozo hanji and dyes

It's Academic, 26inHx88inWx8inD, handmade paper, abaca and procion dyes backed with luan

Blood Root 2, 28" diameter, Cast abaca, procion dyes

Blood Root Shoot, 21" diameter, Cast abaca, procion dyes

Oh How Cillia, 30 x 16, handmade paper of abaca, flax, Thai kozo and milkweed

Where There's Smoke, 10 x 4.5 x 6.5 Handmade Paper

Where There's Smoke, 10 x 4.5 x 6.5 Handmade Paper- detail

Protector #1, 13 x 13 x 13, Handmade paper: locally harvested Chicago alley mulberry, dyed abaca, cochineal-dyed Thai kozo

Force and Duration detail

Force and Duration 30 x 85 x 7 handmade paper

Re:Morse, Handmade Paper: Cast and hand-shaped kozo and abaca, installation of 9 pcs

Melissa Jay Craig's handmade paper book works, sculptures and installations have been exhibited internationally, most notably in Denmark, South Korea, Costa Rica, Mexico and South America. She is also a curator, writer and a former award-winning professor, who continues to give lectures, classes and workshops at schools and arts centers throughout the U.S. She has been awarded numerous grants and residencies.

"In my work, I imply narratives authored by our beleaguered planet, set forth in a language long overlooked by humanity's intellectual arrogance. I perceive this as a language of dichotomy, of adaptation, of infinite cyclical renewal, of double-edged humor, of fierce, disturbing beauty and always, of the ultimate triumph of time.

My medium of choice is paper made from fibers I process and sometimes harvest myself. I work with handmade paper specifically for its minimal environmental impact, its utter versatility, its enormous variety and for its deceptive strength contrasted with its perceived fragility. Made from plants, it is a material derived directly from my conceptual catalysts, involving me physically as well as metaphorically in the perpetual cycles that intrigue me."