Contemporary Art in Context

Freelon’s awe-inspiring stained tissue paper artworks are replete with examples of the elements of art (shape and form, color, space, and texture) and the principles of design (unity, contrast, and pattern). She has worked with tissue paper since 2005, when she had an epiphany about the medium. While living with her grandmother in Cambridge and earning her MFA at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, she found a stack of tissue paper stained by a leaking water pipe. The stains formed all sorts of patterns and colors. The experience changed the direction of her art practice. Her first exhibition was of Tissue Quilts in Boston.

For Freelon, tissue paper represents discovery, transformation, and healing. She has experimented with it in numerous ways, patenting several of the processes. One of her processes, Tissue Ink Monoprints, uses several inks on multiple layers of paper. She also creates Tissue Spirals sculptures composed of thousands of tiny scraps of dyed tissue paper in tightly wound spirals. One of her extraordinary processes is her Tissue Ink/Mono/Photo Prints, which incorporate the potter’s wheel, creating a visible vortex, as seen in Shy/Shine (2024).

Freelon’s godmother and namesake, poet Maya Angelou (1928–2014), described her tissue paper artworks as metaphors of the human condition: delicate yet resilient. Tissue paper is non-toxic and easy to use and recycle. When she creates Tissue Quilts or Tissue Sculptures, she often collaborates with community members, in the spirit of traditional African American quilting bees. Freelon perceives her tissue paper art as a tribute to her grandmother, and the African American communityʼs history of never letting any available material resource go to waste. She states that improvisation and discovery are a big part of her creative process. Her method of bleeding inks on tissue paper creates incredible combinations of colors, shapes, and patterns, seen in Untitled (2006).

What are some of the biggest influences on your work, including other artists, events, or things outside of the arts?
RA: I find most of my influences on my work come from outside of the visual arts. I have always appreciated musicians who are able to encapsulate the human experience within the fewest words possible. Similarly, I have always respected how comedians are able to use comedy as a vehicle to have conversations about uncomfortable topics. So, a lot of stand-up comedy and hip-hop music.