Floating Line Drawing (Double Loop), 2011 by Jill Baroff

The use of gampi and a systematic methodology inform the composition of Jill Baroff's Floating Line Series. Each conceived using the same principles, resulting in remarkably different drawings. At the outset, a sheet of gampi, a tissue-like translucent paper made from the long fibres of a Japanese shrub, is cut to a square shape. The artist applies graphite or red oil-pastel along the outer edge. The resulting frame is then cut along the inside edge, delicately leaving the loose form connected to the inside sheet at a single point. The sheet is then suspended in water as the artist mounts the gampi onto a larger sheet of cotton-based (rag) paper. During the mounting process, Baroff modulates the frame to form her signature compositions. The interplay between chance and will create a deceptively engaging image, which encompasses geometric rigour and playful use of organic materials. In 1996 Jill Baroff received a US-Japan Exchange Fellowship by the US National Endowment of the Arts. During the artist's stay in Japan and her subsequent work as visiting artist at the Awagami Paper Factory in Japan, Baroff deepened her knowledge of traditional Japanese papermaking techniques. Gampi, a fine tissue-like Japanese paper, has been a key element in Baroff's oeuvre. The Folding Line Series, in particular, embraces the paper's unique qualities, which the artist previously explored in her stacked and folded drawings, including works such as 'Blackbird' in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art New York or 'Wax/Wane' from 1995, a work consisting of 28 drawings in the collection of the Yale Univerity Art Gallery (Gift of Sally and Wynn Kramarsky).