"Fleeting Perspectives: A Paper Ballet" Part 3

This week I set out to construct the sets for my Paper Ballet. I had sketched out ideas of what elements I wanted to incorporate and ended up with another balance of tension created between graphic designs and organic silhouettes. I had every intention of creating them in full scale, but as I began to construct the costumes, I realized that I was creating a huge hurdle for myself and promptly decided to bring them down to a manageable size. 

I have seen artists create sets for the opera by constructing boxes that housed their vision before it was taken full scale. I applied the same idea here, albeit with flimsier materials, and began to cut and paste in a very short time frame. I first started with a 10" x 10" cardboard box but soon realized it was going to be just too small for me to literally work inside of. The 16" x 16" box was just right. 

I cut the top out to allow light to flood the set so I could light it when it came time to photograph. As I began making the paper stages, I realized how indelible yet durable the Espon Inkjet Paper scraps were. On a smaller scale, the paper needed to be cut with a slower hand. Cutting quickly would show up as jagged snips here and zagged lines there.

The paper curl was hard to remove from the memory of the paper. I slightly creased the paper by curling it in the opposite direction which needed to be smoothed out. I soon learned that the wave in the paper was there to stay. I began to wonder whether or not I should have painted the cardboard white but decide to stick with the paper all the way through the project. The texture and tone of the paper matched the costumes.

"Don't be too precious with the materials" kept bubbling up into my mind as I begin to create the sets. This "manta" of sorts also came to mind while I was constructing the costumes. It actually helped me to get the job done quickly without being too fastidious over each and every line. Without tearing or ripping quickly through the paper, I gave my self the freedom to create in paper without the fear of making a mistake. This was a real gift I gave to myself. I have a feeling it is something I have learned from being a parent!

As I began to line the inside of the box with paper, I felt like I had stepped inside the world I was creating. I could feel the space, and I imagined what direction the light would be coming from. I began to imagine the dancers placed within the final sets behind them. A doll-sized world is charming and magical. I hope this charm and magic comes across in the final images. 

My facination with a world that doesn't exist continues to permeate my photography. Perhpas it is because I can create a world of make-believe and capture it on film, that I continue to do so. If I were to dream just a little bit bigger, I would love to see this ballet become a reality. Any choreographers, set builders, composers, dancers and costume designers interested? Please email me at julievox@sbclgobal.net

Last week I decided to paint my nails bright orange. As I was scoring the paper without a bone folder, my nails were leaving little trails of orange streaks all over the pristine white paper. I shrugged my shoulders and convince myself that this was part of the process and may eventually add something to it. I let go of my preconceived notions of how things should be and accept how they unfold. Overlapping paper to make coving in the corners happened by accident. With the walls, floor and ceiling complete, I moved on to cutting out the set elements. 

As I have mentioned, I decided to explore the tension between graphic and organic elements. As I began to sketch out my ideas, it seemed like a natural progression. Visually it had high impact and each piece provided the rudimentary symbolic characteristics I was looking for.

Balance and instability really seems to be the prevailing theme in this work. Or are they really one and the same? Chaos, when you finally work the process all the way to the end, is no long chaos. A circle. NOTE TO SELF: You can't cut a paper circle quickly!  Slowing down to cut the circle was so enjoyable, it was like a mini-vacation... 

I could feel the scissors cutting through the fibers and it brought me back to why I'm working with paper and a real feel for the medium I'm working in. Cutting out the waves got me thinking about positive and negative space created by the paper and how that might actually tie into Phase III of this project - the shadow. The outdoor early evening light was perfect to start observing and exploring the shadows the paper waves were casting on the inside of the paper set and I was inspired.

Each new set of elements brought a whole new vibe to the scenery. The circle and the waves evoked night time, like the moon over water. The square and the waves contained much more tension and was more abstract. More of what I am looking for.  More surreal, like a cube on the water or a room being flooded or taken over by waves, a la "Where the Wild Things Are".  Now on to the first frontispiece. Making the feathered frontispiece reminded me of the "bangs" I had made for the first ballerina costume. The organic feel and unevenness of the edge of the paper was soft and delicate.

Like leaves rustling in the breeze or looking through a natural window created by vegetation in the wilderness, the feathered frontispiece worked! I needed to make a frame to hold the paper to the front of the box, so I cut 1/2" strips off the flaps of the box and attached it to the back of the paper. 

In the end, I think the circle worked best with the frontispiece and the square with the waves...

It takes so much time to contemplate a plan of action, layout all your materials and then execute a project. A small time slot of 3 hours over a 2 day period (generously provided by my husband as he watched and entertained our little 3 year old girl) was a very tight time slot to accomplish what I setting out to do. Yet it was all I had .

But persistence paid off and I'm happy to say 4 out of the 8 sets I had drawn up were completed and ready to be photographed. I will need to carve out another 3 hours to complete the 4 other sets soon. Right now, I'm just happy to see that Phase II of the Paper Ballet has made it off the ground and is on its way to completion. 

If any thing, this project has taught me to continue to chip away at this self assigned creative persuit. For if I am not to push myself to complete this project, who will? This is the crux for all artists. I just hope that in the end I can look upon these images and know that I have worked out all the kinks that evolved out of the act of creating with paper.

Luckily I'm a fairly stubborn person and with perseverance and this blog to keep me on track, I'm sure this fairy tale of a Paper Ballet will come to life. Life itself is fleeting and I am thrilled to be able to share my perspective of it with you.


Julie Pavlowski Green

June 15, 2013