Jane Ingram Allen

Sculptor/Installation Artist

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UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

"One World - Many Papers" a collaborative art project by Jane Ingram Allen with artists from 42 countries, Distillery Gallery (www.distilleryboston,com), Boston, MA - April 3-May 15, 2009

This work will also be exhibited in Taiwan in June, in Korea in August and in Thailand in November 2009. Other exhibitions of the work in different countries around the world are pending. This photo shows the work in progress in Jane's studio in Taiwan. For more information about the "One World - Many Papers" project go to Jane's blog atjaneingramallenart.blogspot.com

"2009 Incheon International Women Artists' Biennale," Incheon, South Korea - August 1 -31, 2009

Jane has been invited by the curators to exhibit her installation art at this biennale in South Korea. Jane will exhibit two installations in the biennale, One will be an indoor installation of handmade paper art , and she will also exhibit the "One World - Many Papers" project. Jane is also invited to come to Korea to do a site-specific outdoor installation, and she hopes that this will be possible.

"The Alphabet Show," Essex Art Center, Lawrence, MA - June 26 - Aug. 14, 2009

Jane has been invited by the curators at Essex Art Center to participate in the second "alphabet" show organized by Essex Art Center. 26 seleced artists are each given a letter of the alphabet and create a work of art for that letter. Jane has the letter "j".

"Change," Boston Sculptors Gallery, Boston, MA - July 8 - August 7, 2009

Jane has been invited by Boston Sculptors to curate the July group exhibition to include selected works by the gallery's 34 member artists on the theme of change. Jane will also exhibit some of her own sculpture installations in the front gallery at Boston Sculptors. Jane plans to exhibit installation works that reflect on aspects of change and will include some of her recent works created during residencies in Taiwan, Tanzania, Africa and Bali, Indonesia.

RECENT EXHIBITION

Jane Ingram Allen and Marcia Widenor: Still Waters" - Tenri Gallery, Tenri Cultural Institute, 43A W. 13th St., New York City, NY - May 7 - May 31, 2008

Opening Reception: Thursday, May 8, 6-8 pm

Jane's recent series of works about water and the environment were featured in this two-person exhibition in New York City. Jane's site specific installations in this exhibition emphasize the importance of water and the need to conserve water resources. For the installations Jane used plant fiber handmade paper pulp containing seeds for wildflowers. One of the works "Still Water" was made during her recent artist in residency at Taipei National University of the Arts in collaboration with art students at the university. This installation is made up of 200 cast handmade paper water bottles with unique labels created by the students and arranged in a spiral configuration on the gallery walls recalling the trash vortex in the North Pacific and relating to problems of plastic trash in the world's oceans as well as the lack of pure drinking water.

Another installation titled "No Water" is made with handmade paper from plants of Africa created during Jane's January-February 2008 residency in Tanzania, Africa. This work refers to the lack of water in many parts of Africa and problems relating to global climate change. The installation "Falling Water" consists of 10 panels of handmade paper cascading from floor to ceiling. This paper pulp is colored with non-toxic dye and painted with Chinese ink and contains seeds for wildflowers.

Another installation in the exhibition is called "Every Drop Counts" and consists of many handmade paper drops arranged on the gallery wall like water drops on a window. The paper pulp contains seeds for wild flowers and visitors are invited to pledge to conserve water and then take a drop from this installation home with them to water and plant to grow as wildflowers. The installations in the exhibition of handmade paper with wildflowers seeds in the pulp will be recycled into the earth after the exhibition to come back as living blooming wildflowers.

UPCOMING ARTIST IN RESIDENCY PROJECTS

Rome Art and Community Center, Rome, NY - July 13 - August 7, 2009

Jane will be the first artist-in-residence in this central New York State art center residing in their newly renovated artist's apartment for the month of July with an exhibition of Jane's work to be installed in the gallery and on view outdoors in the gallery from August 7 - 31.

During her residency in Rome, Jane will be creating a site-specific outdoor sculpture installation using natural materials and handmade paper from local plants, involving local students and public participation, and offering lectures and other public educational programs about her art and life as an internatinal artist. Jane's residency in Rome, New York, is being sponsored by a grant from Target's foundation. For more information about the Rome residency visit the website at www.romeart.org

RECENT ARTIST IN RESIDENCY PROJECTS

Bali Purnati Center for the Arts, Bali, Indonesia - Jan. 22 - Feb. 6, 2009

Jane was an artist in residence at Bali Purnati Center for the Arts, a beautiful art center near Ubud in the village of Sukewati, on the island of Bali in Indonesia, for two weeks during the Chinese New Year Holiday in Taiwan. This residency was like a vacation in paradise but Jane also had a chance to explore plants of Bali for papermaking and created a Bali Site Map using local materials. One of the most interesting papermaking plants from Bali that Jane used is the Sego Palm that produces lots of black fiber on its trunk. The black palm fiber is used in Bali for the thatched roofs on temples and also for making a very strong rope to lash together bundles of grass for regular thatched roofs (not the temples). The dark brown, almost black, handmade paper produced from the palm fiber is very beautiful and unusual and the color seems lasting. Jane's Bali Site Map was exhibited in Bali and will also be exhibited in the USA and Taiwan later this year. During the residency Jane also taught a papermaking workshop for a group of students from the Bali Orphan Center in Ubud. Jane donated all of her papermaking equipment to the orphanage so that the students can continue making handmade paper art.

For more information about the Bali Purnati Center for the Arts, visit the website at www.balipurnati.com

Mass Audubon Society Visual Arts Center, Canton, MA (Boston area) - July 7 - 31, 2008

Jane will again this summer be the artist in residence at the Mass Audubon Society Visual Arts Center. Jane will be working on new installations focused on butterflies and the concept of transformation. She will be collaborating with performance artist Sharon Wyrrick to create a performance/installation artwork and using local plant materials and sites at the Mass Audubon Society wildlife center in Canton. While working as artist in residence at the Center Jane will also teach some classes for the children's summer camp on papermaking with plants and present an Artist's Talk and an exhibition of her work in progress at the end of the residency. For more information about Jane's activities and about the Mass Audubon Visual Arts Center, visit the website at http://www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connection/Sanctuaries/Visual_Arts/index.php

Artist's House, St. Mary's College, St. Mary's, MD - October 6 - 31, 2008

During the month of October Jane will be an artist in residence at St. Mary's College Artist's House along with performance artist Sharon Wyrrick. The two artists will be working together on a collaborative project about butterflies and transformation. They will work with art and environmental studies students as well as theater students at the college and make a presentation at the end of the residency about their new collaborative work. Click here for more information http://www.smcm.edu/art/artist_house/index2.html

Qiyan Community, Taipei, Taiwan - March 3-15, 2008

Jane was invited to be an artist in residence at Qiyan Community in the Beitou area of Taipei and worked with many community volunteers to make handmade paper from local plants and create a Qiyan Site Map featuring natural and cultural highlights of the community. During the two-week residence Jane and the community volunteers worked at Qing Jiang Elementary School in Qiyan, and with the help of the volunteers and excellent cooperation from the principal and the teachers, all of the students in the school had an opportunity to participate in papermaking activities and meet the artist. Jane exhibited her work at the school and also in the White House Community Center. The name "Qiyan" means "amazing rock," and so Jane and the volunteers made paper and put it to dry on some of the huge rocks at a local park to capture the impression of the sedimentary rocks that give the community its name. The volunteers collected and prepared paper pulp to make unique handmade paper from 22 different plants, and that must be a record for number of plants used in two weeks!

Warm Heart Arts Tanzania, Arusha, Tanzana, Africa - January 24 - February 21, 2008

Jane was invited to be an artist in residence at Warm Heart Arts Tanzania (WHAT) http://www.warmheartart.com/what/what.html in Arusha , and her residency was supported by a grant from the Lighton International Artists Exchange Program, Kansas City Artists Coalition http://www.kansascityartistscoalition.org/index.html. During this residency Jane worked with artist/ papermaker and studio owner Seppo Hallavainio and other Tanzanian artists to make handmade paper from local plants and develop new work inspired by this place. She created a Tanzania Site Map and a piece based on the Tanzania flag using her handmade paper created from local plants. During this residency Jane also made a sample book of paper from 12 different local plants.

Click here for a daily log and photos of Jane's activities in Tanzania.

Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts, Taipei, Taiwan - Nov. 25 - Dec. 16, 2007

Jane was selected to be an artist-in-residence at the art museum at this Taipei art univeristy for three weeks to do a project with the art students focused on an environmental issue. Jane worked on a new series of handmade paper artworks about the importance of water. She created an installation called "Still Water" that involved the students in creating about 200 handmade paper castings of various plastic water bottles. The installation focused attention on the importance of clean drinking water and also the pollution caused by so much plastic. The handmade paper is made from plant materials and colored with non-toxic dye and contains seeds for wildflowers. After the gallery exhibition of this work in Taipei and in New York City, Jane plans to let it recycle into the earth. Since everything is biodegradable the installation will be "planted" at a selected site to dissolve into compost and sprout growing blooming flowers.

During the residency at the art university Jane also had "Open Studio" times for the public to have an opportunity to make some handmade paper. Jane also offered public lectures and workshops in papermaking during her stay at the university.

ONLINE INTERVIEW ABOUT JANE'S ENVIRONMENTAL ARTWORKS

Sam Edsill, Editor of the online art magazine MENTAL CONTAGION, interviewed Jane about her environmental art projects for the Spring 2007 issue of the magazine. The interview with Jane is featured in the "Cause and Effect - Art and Environment" section.

To go directly to the interview, click here

CURRENT CURATORIAL PROJECTS

2009 Guandu International Outdoor Sculpture Festival: Focus on Land, Water, Culture, Guandu Nature Park, Taipei, Taiwan, June 13 - September 15, 2009

Opening Press Conference: Friday,June 12, 10am

Public Opening and Activities with the Artists: Saturday and Sunday, 2-5 pm, June 13 and 14, 2009

Jane is the curator again for the 4th year of this annual international outdoor sculpture exhibition at Guandu Nature Park, Taipei, Taiwan. This is the only outdoor sculpture festival in Taiwan that focuses on environmental issues. Jane started the Festival at Guandu Nature Park in 2006 with her own installation and 5 other international artists she invited to join her. The Sculpture Festival expanded in 2007 to include 12 international artists. For 2008 Jane reviewed proposals from 165 artists from all over the world to select 8 artists to come to Guandu Nature Park in Taiwan and create their works . This year for the 2009 Festival Jane received 215 entries from artists all over the world and will be making the selection of the 8 international artists for 2009 in March. Watch here for an update on the 2009 selected artists coming soon.

For more information about the Guandu International Outdoor Sculpture Festival, visit these websites

www.gd-park.org.tw and www.colorfultree.com.tw/gdpark/arist.htm

For previous Guandu International Outdoor Sculpture Festivals, click here

"Frolic: Humor and Mischief in Contemporary Taiwanese Art" - Traveling show

With support from the Taipei Cultural Center and the Council for Cultural Affairs the "Frolic" exhibition of contemporary Taiwanese art dealing with humor and mischief that Jane co-curator Dr. Thalia Vrachipoulos of New York City is traveling to selected university galleries throughout the United States during 2008 and 2009.

For information about Jane's Other Recent Curatorial Projects, click here. 

Fulbright Scholar Award, Artist in Residency Project in Taiwan - 2004-05

"MADE IN TAIWAN" PROJECT - FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR AWARD FOR RESEARCH IN TAIWAN - Grant  from January 2004  through July 2005 with sponsorship by the Taiwan National Endowment for Culture and Arts and co-sponsorship by the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange/Fulbright Foundation.

During this one and a half year project Jane traveled to 14 different places in Taiwan. She was an artist in residence for several weeks in each community to make "site maps" with handmade paper created from plants collected in each place. During her time in each community Jane was working with a host organization and local participants teaching a "cultural citizenship papermaking art workshop" to exchange ideas, share processes, exhibit her work and make new works for exhibition in Taiwan. 

For information about the "Made in Taiwan" project and about each place Jane visited, click here.

For information about other "Made in Taiwan" project exhibitions in Taiwan and other countries, click here.

ARTS IN EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Jane offers arts in education programs that include exhibitions of her work and artist in residency projects.  She is an experienced teacher and has done many arts in education programs in the United States and other countries working with schools, colleges and universities. She has been a teaching artist and presenter for Arts in Education Institutes (Aesthetic Education Institutes) in Albany, NY; Utica, NY; Rochester, NY; Binghamton, NY; and Palm Beach, CA, as well as in many colleges, universities, art centers and museums. For more information and photos from previous arts in education programs, click here.

RECENT WRITING PROJECTS

Jane has written a review of the 2008 Asian Contemporary Art Fair in New York City during November 2008 that was published in the January 2009 issue of ART IN AMERICA magazine.

Jane has written a review of the 2007 Asian Contemporary Art Fair in New York City during November 2007 that will be published in an upcoming issue of SCULPTURE magazine. Jane has also written a review of the exhibition by sculptor Chico McMurtrie at Andrew Edlin Gallery, NYC, that will be published in an upcoming issue of SCULPTURE magazine.

Jane's article about Dongba paper is in the Winter 2008 issue of HAND PAPERMAKING magazine. This article tells about Jane's January 2007 residency at Lijiang Studio, Lijiang, Yunnan province, China. While in Yunnan Jane visited the local papermaking expert Mr. Li, who still makes paper in the traditional way as practiced by the Dongba, or priests/shamen of the local tribal culture. A sample of the Dongba paper created by Mr. Li is also included in the magazine.

Jane's interview with Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison was published in the December 2007 issue of SCULPTURE magazine. Jane interviewed the Harrisons during their April 2007 visit to Taiwan and talked with them about their current work in Taiwan and recent projects as environmental artists/consultants/thinkers. Jane is also writing an article about the collaboration aspects of the Harrisons' work that will be published in an upcoming issue of PUBLIC ART REVIEW.

Jane's interview with sculptor, Nancy Rubins was in the April 2007 issue of SCULPTURE magazine. This issue of Sculpture also has a sculpture by Nancy Rubins on the cover. Jane's feature article is entitled "Pushing the Structure." For more information visit the website of www.sculpture.org and click on to SCULPTURE magazine and then "Archives." Jane interviewed Nancy Rubins while she was in the USA in June 2007 and saw Rubins' work at the SculptureCenter, Long Island City, NY and the public art installation at Lincoln Center, NYC. In the interview Nancy Rubins talked with Jane about her development as an artist and the ideas behind her work.

Jane's article titled "Ephemeral Environmental Art" is in the April 2007 issue of ART CALENDAR magazine. In this article Jane writes about the concept of ephemeral environmental art., installations that do not last and that change with nature and audience participation. The article includes information and photos of some of her recent environmental art installations that are designed to change over time and eventually disappear. The article also includes information and photos about other artists who are creating ephemeral environmental art installations.

Book on "Made in Taiwan" Project Now Available

A review of Jane's book "Made in Taiwan - an American Papermaking Artist's Journey Around Taiwan" is in the Winter 2007 issue of HAND PAPERMAKING magazine. The review is written by Loreto Apelado, a papermaking artist from the Philippines. For information about this review click here for the website of HAND PAPERMAKING.

Jane's book was published in December 2005 with a grant from the Taiwan Council for Cultural Affairs.  The 264-page book is in English and Chinese and contains information about the 14 places where Jane worked as an artist in residence during this 18 month long Fulbright Scholar Award grant project sponsored by the Council for Cultural Affairs from January 2004--July 2005.  The book gives information about the 135 plants Jane used to make paper for her work and contains many photos taken by Jane's husband Tim who accompanied her on this journey.  The book tells about the process, the plants, the paper made from them and the 55 artworks Jane created in the 14 different areas of Taiwan.  The book is available direct from Jane.  You will receive a copy signed by the author along with a sample of handmade paper made by Jane for this project.  The price of the book is NT$450 each or US$15.00 plus shipping and handling. The shipping charge for Taiwan orders is NT$50 and for shipping to the USA US10. For orders of 10 or more books to the same address, books are NT$300 each or US$11 each.  To order the book, click here.

Click here for more information about Jane's past writing projects.

Enjoy exploring the other pages by clicking on the words in the image at the top of this page or at the bottom, to find out more about Jane and her art work.

You can contact Jane Ingram Allen via Email at info@janeingramallen.com

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All Images and Text ©Copyright Jane Ingram Allen 1997 - 2008