Untitled (View of Morrill Hall and Art on Campus)

Artist / Maker Linda Murray Emmerson ((American, b. 1937))

Date2003

MediumPaper

Dimensions33 x 35 in. (83.8 x 88.9 cm)

ClassificationsDrawings

Credit LineCommissioned by University Museums. In the Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberU2003.60

Status

On view

Collections

Label TextHow did Linda Emmerson make this? Scissors? X-acto knife? Guess again, a scalpel and lots of technical prowess and patience! Created entirely of cut paper, the intricate image wavers between two and three dimensionalities, showing Morrill Hall at the center surrounded by works of art in the ISU public art collection as well as a homage to artist Christian Petersen. Learn more about Emmerson below. Linda Emmerson, an Ames area artist, gave a gallery chat last week where she delved into both the history of papercutting as well as her own growth as a fine artist. Emmerson, first encountered scherenschnitte, meaning literally ‘scissor cuts’ - the German/Swiss art of papercutting, on a vacation to Switzerland. Although the origin of papercutting is a Chinese tradition, there are several countries with active papercutting traditions. It was several years later, after receiving a box with images of traditional scherenschnitte, that Emmerson attempted her first papercutting. Although in the traditional form the designs are cut using small scissors without any drawing beforehand, Emmerson said she begins by drawing out the design and cuts using a scalpel. Her early paper cuts were done with an x-acto knife but she quickly switched when a relative who practiced medicine suggested a scalpel instead. These early papercuts were on tissue paper before Emmerson moved to other sturdier paper media like mulberry paper. While still respecting the traditional design features of scherenschnitte such as black paper on a white ground, and featuring a larger central image surrounded by mirrored images on the edges, Emmerson makes the technique her own and produces works of art that reflect her own community. Papercutting was commissioned in 2007 for the opening of the Christian Petersen Art Museum and when not on exhibition it can be found installed on the first floor of Morrill Hall.

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