Missouri Southern to host papercut exhibit at the Spiva Art Gallery

Joplin, MO – A solo exhibition by printmaker and papercut artist Tammy Harrington will open Monday, Oct. 10, in the Spiva Art Gallery at Missouri Southern State University.

Entitled “Visions,” the exhibit will run through Thursday, Nov. 3. There will be a public artist talk at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, followed by a reception.

Harrington’s artwork is influenced by the art of papercutting. Having originally just used print, she shifted the idea of space to be both dimensional and flat by cutting away at the prints to make them appear more three dimensional.

“The papercut is a traditional Chinese folk art technique that has a stylized and graphic appearance,” Harrington states on her website. “I use an X-Acto knife to cut out all the negative areas in a sheet of paper to combine Chinese papercut imagery and pattern with my prints and portraiture subject matter.”

Harrington lives in Russellville, Ark., and is a professor of art at the University of the Ozarks. She received a BFA in printmaking from the University of South Dakota and an MFA in printmaking from Wichita State University. She has exhibited her artwork nationally as well as throughout the region.

“I wanted to find a way to represent my identity as a Chinese-American,” she said. “This blended my heritage with my love of the printmaking technique.”

Spiva Art Gallery’s hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday. Admission is free and open to the public.