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Joyce Utting Schutter’s Mixed-Media Sculptures Evoke Nature

Joyce Utting Schutter's mixed-media sculptures are filled with organic, abstract shapes that evoke the delicate unfurling of flower blossoms. Each piece is created through an interplay of steel armature and paper pulp, which she stretches across the metal frame to give the fiber a translucent effect. While the paper pulp is still wet, Schutter adds various materials between its layers to create various colors and textures. She developed this technique while in graduate school at the University of Iowa, and because of it, her work has a singular look that makes it instantly recognizable.

Joyce Utting Schutter’s mixed-media sculptures are filled with organic, abstract shapes that evoke the delicate unfurling of flower blossoms. Each piece is created through an interplay of steel armature and paper pulp, which she stretches across the metal frame to give the fiber a translucent effect. While the paper pulp is still wet, Schutter adds various materials between its layers to create various colors and textures. She developed this technique while in graduate school at the University of Iowa, and because of it, her work has a singular look that makes it instantly recognizable.

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