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1. Ruffled Pod #1, 2003, cast handmade paper with silver print fragments and copper      turnings, 9" x 24" x 9"
2. Ruffled Pod #2, 2003, cast handmade paper with silver print fragments and found      objects, 9" x 24" x 9"
3. Gills, 2003, cast handmade paper with silver prints, 32 1/2" x 10" x 12"
4. Split Leaf Screen, 2002, copper toned silver prints on artist made paper woven onto      a three-panel folding screen, 70" x 52" x 1"
5. Split Leaf Screen, detail, 2002, copper toned silver prints on artist made paper woven      onto a three-panel folding screen, 70" x 52" x 1"

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Surfaces
Iris prints on paper handmade by the artist
1. Meditation, 2006, 40" x 30"
2. Prayer, 2006, 40" x 30"
3. Clem's Wall, 2006, 25" x 19"
4. Les Saintes, 2006, 19" x 25"

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Botanicals
Selenium toned silver prints using applied emulsion on paper handmade by the artist. Each measures approximately 16" x 20"
5. Burst , 2005
6. Lush, 2003
7. Swirl, 2006
8. Papyrus, 2006
9. Redbud at Dusk, 2006
10. Three Pods, 2006
11. Veins #1, 2003
12. Maple Leaf, 2003
13. Leaf Pair, 2003
14. Night's Bloom, 2004
15. Rose Reverse, 2004
16. Wind Flowers, 2004

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Silk Portraits
Double layered silver prints on silk suspended from an aluminum armature, approximately 23" x 23" x 1-1/2"
17. Barbara, 2005
18. Ashley, 2005
19. Matana, 2005
20. Adriana, 2005

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Contact Information
Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art
1400 N. American Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122
www.nexusphiladelphia.org

Merion Station, PA
tel: 610-664-9661
e-mail: abrams.sk@gmail.com
Please contact artist for purchases, commissions, etc.

Artist Statement
I am a photographer and papermaker. I have been immersed in the complexities of handmade paper for many years, exploring the unique structural and textural qualities of the material. Several years ago I began to incorporate photography into my work, printing directly onto my handmade paper using an applied silver emulsion. More recently I have also used applied emulsion to print two bodies of work on silk, and have begun to explore the possibilities of color digital printing on my handmade paper.

Photography and hand papermaking are both process centered.  The melding of my paper and photographic vision occurs in the darkroom. The paper is coated with silver emulsion, exposed and developed using traditional darkroom techniques. There are many more variables inherent in printing a photograph on handmade paper than on commercial paper.  For example, different pulp fibers absorb silver emulsion and interact with photographic chemicals in ways that are unpredictable. Sometimes but not always this creates tonal variations. The same negative printed on paper made from abaca (banana fiber) will be quite different from one in which kozo (an Asian mulberry) has been added to the pulp. Even when the paper is the same, differences in the application or the thickness of the emulsion affects the final print. Whether a print is on silk or handmade paper, every step in the process yields opportunities for interaction and discovery resulting in a unique print that embodies my artistic intention as well as the unexpected.

I search for images that capture unique qualities in my subject – whether a leaf or a person. I select a material to print on and a negative that in combination will transform the image from one that is generically pleasing to one that is singular and often abstract or elegant. I am interested in the natural cycles that are part of life, capturing the universal forces of generation, growth and decay.

Affiliations
Resident Artist, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA

Awards
2006     
Selected as a 2006-2007 Fleisher  Challenge Exhibition artist

2005 
4th Place Award, The Photo Review 21st Annual Photography Competition, Juror: David Schonauer, Editor, American Photo

First Prize for Photography, Art of the State, Juror: Lisa Tremper Hanover

2004
Patron's Award, Phillips' Mill Photographic Exhibition

Selected Image, The Photo Review 20th Annual Photography Competition Issue

2003
1st Place Award, The Photo Review, 19th Annual Photography Competition

2nd Place Award, Phillips' Mill Photographic Exhibition

2001
Juror's Award, Perkins Center for the Arts, Photography 20

2000
Taws Award, The Print Center, 74th Annual International Competition

1999
Art Bank Award, Phila/Tri State Artists Equity, Millennial Exhibition

Honorable Mention Award, Philadelphia/Tri State Artists Equity, 50th Anniversary Juried Exhibition

1998
Camera Shop Award, Main Line Art Center, Works on Paper Exhibition

Publications
2003
Article, "Hand Papermaking for Photography", Camera Arts, December, 2003/January, 2004

Collections
McGraw-Hill
Merck & Co.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art
Private collections in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain

Selected Exhibitions

Solo

2007
The Wind Challenge Exhibitions at Fleisher, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA

2006
Cuttings, Courthouse Gallery, Lake George Arts Project, Lake George, NY

2005
Silver on Silk: Veiled Portraits, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA

2003
Out of the Woods, Community Gallery Solo Series, Abington Art Center, Jenkintown, PA

2001
Gallery at Boland Hall, St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA

1999
Local Art at Ludington, Bryn Mawr, PA

Group

2007
Contemporary Art On Paper, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Curator: Innis Howe Shoemaker

2006
Equinox, Wired Gallery, Bethlehem, PA

Works on Paper, Arcadia University Art Gallery, Glenside, PA
Juror: Cornelia Butler, MOMA

Photography 25, Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown, NJ
Juror: Katherine Ware, PMA

Annual Juried Exhibition - Photography, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Juror: Stephen Perloff

2005
Best of Show, Gallery 1401, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

Noteworthy, Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown, NJ

Art of the State: Pennsylvania 2005, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA
Juror: Stephen Perloff

Works on Paper + Photographs, Exhibit 231 Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

The Silver Garden, The Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Philadelphia, PA
Curator: Katherine Ware, PMA

Photography 24, Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown, NJ
Juror: Vicki Harris

2004-2005
Discontent, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA

2004
Phillips' Mill Photographic Exhibition, New Hope, PA,

Lasting Impressions: Works on Paper, Marsha Child Contemporary, Princeton, NJ

Group – 5 New Resident Artists, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA

2003
The Photo Review 2003 Competition, Gallery 1401, Philadelphia, PA
Best of Show

Sculptural Prints, The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA

Phillips' Mill Photographic Exhibition, New Hope, PA,

In Depth, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA

Photography 22, Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown, NJ

2002
Photo National, Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, PA

25th Art on Paper Exhibition, Maryland Federation of Art

Annual Juried Show, Abington Art Center, Abington, PA

2001
Spectra '01, Third National Photography Biennial, Silvermine Guild Art Center, New Canaan, CT

Introduction, Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia/Tri State Artist Equity Invitational Exhibit, Memorial Hall, Philadelphia, PA

New Directions, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA

Photography 20, Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown, NJ

2000
Art Works/Water Works Exhibit, Liberty Place, Philadelphia, PA

74th Annual International Competition, The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA

Photography 2000, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA

1999
Phila/Tri State Artist Equity Millennial Exhibition, The American College, Bryn Mawr, PA

Rice-Polak Gallery, Provincetown, MA

1998
Photo:Synthesis, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA