薛美龄 IMAGE ARCHIVE

THE FOLD

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In late 2007, I started exploring notions of memory through making papercuts denoting discarded paper. I was fascinated with the capacity of the material to capture an experience. Paper, in its contemporary form of pulverised plant fibre, came into existence in 104 AD. Its primary function was the recording and transportation of information. This process of documentation and distribution was achieved by way of semiotics: the drawing/writing of signs/symbols.

The inventor of paper could not have envisaged the extent of its carrier capabilities. It is used as a vessel for objects. It also absorbs traces of any substance with which it becomes in contact. Its history can be read through its creases. In the context of a ‘paper trail’, it carries expectations and obligations.

I spent two years examining pieces of paper that found their way into my possession through purchases, gifts and other happenstance.