Book review

The art and art therapy of papermaking: Material, methods and applications, edited by Drew Matott and Gretchen Miller

Routledge 2023
ISBN: 9781032106236
Published: September 2023

Reviewed by Keisha Rheinberger

Discover for yourself the potential of papermaking – as we once did. (p.6)

Overview

The Art and Art Therapy of Papermaking is truly a first of its kind book, masterfully weaving together practical guidance on the art of papermaking, personal anecdotes and reflections on the therapeutic qualities that papermaking holds. Edited by Drew Luan Matott and Gretchen M. Miller, this book targets a wide-ranging audience from artists to creative arts therapists to activists and anyone drawn to papermaking for healing. Matott brings his experience as a master papermaker with a wealth of knowledge through studying papermaking, designing workshops and engaging in his own studio work. Miller (MA, ATR-BC, ATCP) is a registered board-certified art therapist and advanced certified trauma practitioner whose clinical practice focuses on supporting individuals impacted by trauma, domestic violence and grief. Together, Matott and Miller developed the Peace Paper Project, a community art-based initiative that delivers papermaking workshops with an emphasis on community activism, trauma therapy and building social support.

This book is divided into three parts, showcasing works from authors of different backgrounds. Matott and Miller explain the reasoning behind their book’s publication as a response to a gap in the literature where papermaking, therapy and social engagement converged. The first part, “Papermaking as Social Engagement”, highlights a powerful thread that runs throughout the book: the concept of repurposing meaningful materials, clothes and sentimental letters to create handmade paper. Each author writes about their years of papermaking experience, creating intergenerational papermaking workshops run by community student artists and how papermaking can act as a vehicle for activism and social change. Part 2, “Papermaking as Art Therapy”, delves into different ways papermaking can be adapted to different therapeutic settings, the transformative impact of weaving papermaking into art therapy curricula and different ways that papermaking can support people experiencing grief and loss. Lastly, Part 3, “Papermaking as Personal Voice”, rounds out the concept of papermaking for therapy, social action and community through ten powerful first-person accounts of their papermaking experience and what finding this unique and magical medium has meant to them.

Part 1: Papermaking as social engagement

Part 1 is divided into three chapters: it celebrates and unpacks the use of meaningful fibres (most examples focus on the use of clothes) in the process of papermaking to imbed it with unique and therapeutic intent beyond the aesthetic qualities of papermaking. Matott and Miller have made the conscious choice throughout this book to highlight words and terms specific to papermaking in bold, providing the reader with easy accessibility to refer to the glossary and understand the terminology with more confidence. John Risseeuw (chapter 1) relates his wide-ranging journey to becoming a papermaker with 40 years’ experience. Risseeuw began as a student artist, sharing the initial method he was taught for the process of papermaking. While witnessing the magical process of papermaking, he quickly realised that accessibility can provide an obstacle for artists and creatives wanting to pursue this medium but without easy access to a purpose-built studio. From here Risseeuw weaves through his various collaborations and forays into using papermaking for advocacy and finding community. It is a strong thread throughout this book that making paper alongside others with a purpose has helped many people find community, solace and understanding.

Raoul Deal (chapter 2) explores different ways papermaking workshops have been implemented into community-based settings with intergenerational populations. Deal describes his own experience with the Peace Paper Project witnessing the therapeutic impact these workshops had on a variety of groups including veterans, survivors of sexual violence, refugees and those impacted by trauma. These workshops gave space for each group to process their experiences through a different lens, transforming meaningful fibres into something new that can hold new meaning. This idea is a particularly powerful concept for creatives and therapists to consider: using personal cloth to create paper, and then using that paper to create, opens up a realm of possibilities for therapeutic outcomes. Deal weaves through participants’ personal reflections in this chapter, giving readers insight into what makes this process so unique and the chance to witness the vulnerability of engaging in papermaking.

Steven Kostell and Meadow Jones (chapter 3) break down the medium of papermaking, the links to social justice and how papermaking exists within social systems. This chapter allows readers to reconsider their own connection to paper, distilling society’s outlook on paper as “being ubiquitous and often invisible” (p.45) and therefore often overlooked as a potential medium in and of itself for therapy and social activism. Kostell and Jones describe the iterative process of papermaking as using repetition, endurance and resilience, which draws a parallel metaphor for healing and therapy. Both the act of papermaking and therapy rely on these processes and when combined could make the therapeutic process richer and deeper for participants.

Part 2: Papermaking as art therapy

This part is particularly interesting and groundbreaking for creative arts therapists or practitioners facilitating art for well-being. When reading this book, I wondered about practical ways I could incorporate this into my art therapy work without access to a papermaking studio. Chapter 4 addresses this issue, focusing on innovative ways art therapists have adapted papermaking to settings that are often not initially hospitable to the process. Genevieve S. Camp (art therapist in a hospital), Amy Bucciarelli (medical art therapist) and Amy Koski Richard (artist) share the serendipitous meeting that led to them discovering papermaking and their experiences implementing papermaking into their own work. These three authors went on to collaborate and work in partnership towards discovering the therapeutic benefits of papermaking.

Camp provides a background to her work as an art therapist on an inpatient eating disorder treatment program where she developed a project entitled “Transfiguration” (p.63), which gave patients the space to explore their body image by using the papermaking process to transform their outgrown clothes into new art. Camp added an extra layer to her transformative group: inspired by the International Association for Eating Disorder Professionals, she decided to sew together the paper created by patients to make clothes for a size 16 mannequin, symbolising the weight of an average American woman. She breaks down the project session by session, reflecting on the papermaking process and the impact it had on the patients participating. Camp herself reflects that clothes that used to bring shame were transformed into something that patients could feel proud of, inspiring self-love.

Like Camp, Bucciarelli also implemented papermaking in a hospital setting but wanted to explore what papermaking could look like for patients who required individual bedside therapy. She explores the role of medical art therapy and how art therapists working in hospitals require flexibility, and the ability to be adaptable and innovative in their processes. With infection controls, space limitations and the energy levels of patients in mind, Bucciarelli found a way to facilitate papermaking through creative adaptations. There is a comprehensive table that explores potential limitations for papermaking in hospitals but proves that it can be done (p.63). She details a simplified process and describes how materials can fit on a bedside cart with a bench where patients can fully engage in the process. Bucciarelli generously shares how papermaking can be used with different populations within a hospital, including how some patients reused hospital garments to make new paper which supported them in reestablishing their identity and sense of self.

Lastly, Richards shares her experience facilitating papermaking workshops for students with learning disabilities and her journey to creating a program that fit within the lesson plans required in a school environment. This excerpt differs from the previous two art therapists’ descriptions of their hospital experiences. Whereas their goals focused on therapeutic benefits, Richards uses an educational lens, often focusing on skills, even though – given her collaboration with Camp and Bucciarelli – the workshops were naturally therapeutic in nature.

Janice Havlena (chapter 5) focuses on how papermaking can be implemented into an art therapy curriculum, giving students the chance to learn papermaking and see how beneficial it could be in their future work with a range of populations. She makes a strong case for including papermaking in art therapy curricula and how other universities can forge ahead with their own programs. Through explorations of the medium itself, Havlena describes the characteristics of its use in art therapy. She points to the idea that while papermaking as a medium is unique, paper itself is a known material. She describes papermaking as an imaginative process, fluid but structured, which can open up the possibility of creativity, as the medium can be reworked in response to mistakes. She notes observations of implementing workshops with different populations including adults with disabilities, youth, people living with epilepsy, and older adults. Similar to discussions in earlier chapters about strategies to overcome the restrictions of not having a papermaking studio, Havlena points out that students were able to continue experimenting with papermaking even after finishing their education despite the limitations of the medium.

Given the personal nature of transforming significant cloth and memorabilia into paper, it resonates that chapter 6 by Meredith Lin McMackin celebrates how papermaking can be used in art therapy groups for people experiencing loss and grief. McMackin shares her own personal experience with the loss of her son and how this drove her to become an art therapist. She describes how she discovered the community bonds that can be built through papermaking and how it inspired her to do her own doctoral research on how student veterans can process their loss through papermaking with military uniforms. McMackin shares her own experience of meeting the editor Matott and his own personal experience of using his deceased father’s clothing as a vehicle for healing and grieving. With these papers he went on to make books with memories of his father, deepening the continuing bond with his father. This chapter is a particularly powerful read and is a convincing piece on how transformative and beneficial this medium can be for those moving through grief.

Part 3: Papermaking as personal thought

The last part of this book differs slightly from previous parts: instead of a compilation of chapters it showcases the stories of different authors who have embraced papermaking and the impact it has had on their creativity and as a vehicle for change. Through ten first-person accounts, each essay breaks down the author’s thoughts and feelings in a way that is vulnerable in nature. This collection includes the works of Courtney Bowles and Mark Strandquist, Jennifer L. Davis, Tom Lascell, Nathan Lewis, Annie McFarland, Rachel Mims, Erin Mooney-Simkus, Yaslin M. Torres-Pena, Denise R. Wolf, and Eil Wright.

I found these personal accounts very compelling to read and enjoyed hearing firsthand the endless possibilities that come from embracing papermaking. The subjects of these essays include papermaking in a people’s paper co-op, combining papermaking with photography, an art therapy student’s transition to becoming an art therapist and many more enriching stories. I found myself drawn to the essay written by Davis who shares her journey of being diagnosed with breast cancer. After finishing her treatment, she found the Peace Paper Project and began to use her discarded bras as her chosen fibres for papermaking in the workshop. Davis bound these papers into books about her journey through breast cancer and into recovery. She describes her experience with papermaking as a “cathartic act” (p.124) which I feel broadly summaries most of the authors’ thoughts and feelings in regard to this medium. It is a therapeutic and cathartic way to process experiences and pain.

Final thoughts

To round out the book, Matott and Miller consider what the future could hold for papermaking and how it can continue to benefit people accessing art therapy. They note the rise of non-traditional mediums in therapy, reflect on how it aligns within a trauma-informed framework and the potential to adapt it into virtual spaces. They explore the possible limitations of papermaking, possible sustainability impacts and how, even though the book discusses ways of adapting papermaking to different settings, it is still at times an inaccessible medium as it requires specialist materials and can be expensive. The book closes on a hopeful note with tips on how to continue the legacy of papermaking and build upon current practice.

In finishing this book, I felt myself becoming inspired by a medium I had not previously considered for my art therapy. Given The Art and Art Therapy of Papermaking is the first book of its kind, I hope this book inspires more research and literature exploring the connection between papermaking and art therapy. Matott and Miller have concisely proven that this area is fertile ground for development, where art therapists and creative practitioners can explore how papermaking can be implemented with different populations beyond those detailed in this book. I highly recommend this book to people either new to papermaking or wanting to discover how to deepen their practice. This book would be of particular interest to creative arts therapists looking for inspiration, interested in non-traditional materials and with the desire to deepen their therapeutic practice through a meaningful process.

Papermaking resources

(please note some resources from the book are American-based)

Matott and Miller’s community-based initiative provides comprehensive resources and workshops based in America.
http://www.peacepaperproject.org/contact.html

Helpful blogs and reflections on papermaking.
https://helenhiebertstudio.com/blog/

An Australian, Victoria-based papermaking group offering workshops, memberships and resources.
https://papermakers.org.au/