Paper is among the oldest known materials used for artistic expression. Traditionally employed as a surface upon which to create and make marks, contemporary artists have increasingly turned to paper as an expressive medium, in and of itself. Paper: Medium and Message presents ten works by five contemporary regional artists who create dazzling sculptures made of paper, revealing the extraordinary possibilities of this ordinary medium.

Anna Lambrini Moisiadis, of New Glarus, Wisconsin, creates elegant sculptures, often from a single sheet of paper. Moisiadis says, “Like the architecture I grew up with, the paper I work on is constructed, built on, demolished, and renovated through cutting, stacking, stitching, and repeated marks.”­

Elizabeth Rhoads Read, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, crafts three-dimensional forms from simple materials including paper and fabric. Inspired by nature, Read’s works play with space, texture, and color to express the intensity of human emotions.

Lee Emma Running, of Grinnell, Iowa, investigates the beauty and complexity of natural phenomena in her artworks. Running’s installation, Watercourse: Mississippi, which spans 28 feet, employs hand-dyed fabric and molded handmade paper to trace the random yet rhythmic movements of water.

Carrie Ann Schumacher, of Chicago, fashions elaborate dresses from the pages of romance novels. Described by the artist as “seductively beautiful” but without function, Schumacher’s dresses represent the futility of feminine myths in real life.

Michael Velliquette, of Madison, Wisconsin, hand-cuts paper shapes and assembles them into complex forms akin to sacred architecture. The formal symmetry of Velliquette’s work is intended to evoke a sense of balance and order.