The Film/Synopsis

What is the relationship between art and nature? In Gretchen Hogue’s short film ‘Water Paper Time’ the gradual and oftentimes imperceptible processes of natural change are given artistic form through a sensitive portrayal of the work of paper artist Helen Hiebert. Using time-lapse photography the film explores how external forces such as time, gravity and molecular structure bend, tear and wrinkle Hiebert’s handmade paper, producing startlingly allusive and organic forms which recall the fibers and plants that the artist used in the paper-making process. A meditation upon the cyclical relationship between human and nature, ‘Water Paper Time’ reveals the fascinating ways in which nature and art go on changing even (and perhaps especially) when we are not looking.

Artist: Helen Hiebert; Filmmaker: Gretchen Hogue; Musician: Kell Black

This film was sponsored in part by the Regional Arts & Culture Council.