Mokumoku is an installation of 23 hanging sculptures composed of recycled paper pulp. Mokumoku, a Japanese onomatopoeia, describes continually expanding formations, like clouds and smoke, that puff up, swell up and become larger with no constraining boundaries or containers. I sought Mokumoku when making these hanging sculptures, finding forms that seem to grow and change from within. 

The installation comes alive when viewers come into the space. As they walk within the space and stir the air, the individual sculptures swing and make turns at different directions and speeds; the installation altogether then keeps remaking its composition. 

The sculptures are made with used photo-background paper I collect from artists and photographers in my Brooklyn studio building. I break the paper down to pulp, formulate it with bookbinders' glue into an air-dry clay, and handform “cookies”, the colorful elements. The rich colors come from the colors of the donated paper; there are no added paints or pigments. They become lightweight and durable when dry, allowing light-duty wire structures to support a number of elements. Altogether they create airy yet structured sculptures. 

Title
Mokumoku

Dates
Sep 14-Nov 4, 2023

Classification
Solo exhibition, Sculptures

Location
Alison Milne, Co., Toronto, Canada

Medium
Recycled paper pulp and steel wire

Dimensions
Dimensions variable, Installed in a 500 sf x 20 ft ceiling main gallery and in an adjacent room