The Girl with a Butterfly Wing

Technique: ART PRINT     
Author: ALENKA SOTTLER
Title: THE GIRL WITH A BUTTERFLY WING

Original size: app. 105mm x 148mm

Paper: 130g paper made from an invasive plant Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica)

Publication: OPEN EDITION

Year of origin:  2020

Alenka Sottler about her work: The Girl with a Butterfly Wing art print is a reminiscence of the artworks known as memento mori. These contained the symbols of transience such as dried flowers, hourglasses, skulls and also butterflies. Usually, butterflies only live for two weeks, some only for a day, so they remind us of the transient and fragile nature of life and invite reflection about what matters most.
I could not express this on white standardised office paper. I searched for some other material and found a paper made from the Japanese knotweed invasive plant by the Trajna non-profit organisation /www.notweedpaper.com/. Their paper provided me with a seemingly small mental shift that can lead to great change. With this paper in hand, I began to think about new principles in my work and took the first step towards a different type of civilisation. It is not just a different type of paper, what is also important is that the prints on the paper can be of different size and shade, undulating and variously signed and stamped, because of which I am not prompted to discard them, but rather subordinate the old aesthetic to a more sustainable principle.
Japanese knotweed paper, which is made from plants growing in the surrounding area, has reconnected me with my local environment, with a concern for it and its fragile balance. As a result, this paper contains a special love of self, the local environment and the green planet as our only home.
I printed the drawing with a simple homemade printing device that allows printing on the up to 130 mg thick Japanese knotweed paper. The paper is distinguished by its warm, non-recurring hues.
It lives, breathes and undulates in its own way. The fragments of the woody Japanese knotweed stems in it, create a noble texture.
By using this paper, I am joining in the search for how to live and work in lasting harmony with nature and the enthusiasm for creating a new world that is more welcoming to all beings and nature.

Signed, Certificat of Authenticity Included .
Packaging 100% degradable.
Packaging and shipping costs are included.