Aliza Thomas
Our rapidly changing times make 50 years already “a long time.” It all started in the Negev desert, where I lived. For my art I used paper imported from France but in 1973 there was the Yom Kippur war and wars change lives: importing "paper" was no longer possible.
I decided to try producing it with cotton rags, and my grandmother's sheets were the first experiment. In search of less tiring fibers, I read up on plants at university until I discovered Mitnaan, which grows in the local desert and whose harvesting requires walking and research. Details about this plant, paper and process can be found in Asao Shimura's books. It is a beautiful fiber but difficult to work with.
Vegetable fibers have become my favorites, especially the Kozo and Gampi that I use today, which can be processed anywhere and without heavy equipment. In this way I created the opportunity to make paper and PaperArt all over the world, even in the desert .
