The 'RWA Biennial Open 2025: Paper Works' exhibition is a celebration of the incredible versatility of paper as both a surface for mark-making and a material with deep artistic significance. Selected from an open submission, the show brings together a diverse range of artists who explore the endless creative possibilities of paper. The exhibition offers great insight into contemporary approaches to working on or with paper, and features an array of drawings, prints, collages, sculptures and mixed media pieces.
Beyond being a surface for artistic expression, paper takes on a deeper role as a subject in its own right, rich with conceptual potential. As a material, it embodies notions of fragility, impermanence, and transformation, making it a powerful tool for enabling artists to push boundaries. As a conceptual medium, its history as a vessel for communication adds further layers of meaning, with some artists repurposing books, found documents, or handwritten notes to reflect on identity, language and storytelling. By embracing both its traditional and unconventional uses, 'Paper Works' highlights how this humble yet powerful material continues to inspire and evolve, challenging perceptions of materiality, meaning, and what constitutes a 'paper work.'
What made the exhibition particularly compelling is how it has altered my own perspective on paper. Traditionally, I've viewed paper as a blank slate waiting for marks to bring it to life. However, the works in this exhibition demonstrate that paper is an active participant in the creative process. The way artists have manipulated and highlighted the raw qualities of paper itself has inspired me to reconsider its use within my own practice. As I shift my focus more towards my journal and sketchbook work, I find myself paying closer attention to the materiality of the pages, experimenting with how paper can enhance or even dictate my artistic decisions.
The exhibition successfully underscores the enduring relevance of works on paper in contemporary art. Whether through traditional processes or conceptual innovation, each artist in the show brings something unique to the conversation. At a time when digital media dominates much of visual culture, this exhibition serves as a reminder of the tactile, immediate, and deeply human nature of paper-based practices. It reaffirms the relevance of a material that has been central to artistic expression for centuries while continuing to evolve in surprising and inventive ways. Below are a few examples of artists' responses to paper that left a lasting impression.
Lucy May Schofield
Lucy May Schofield's 'M' is a typewriter drawing that explores repetition in mark-making. Created using a typewriter, the piece consists of 1,404 lines of the repeated letter 'M,' each line representing a week in time from the age of 13 to 40. This structured accumulation builds dense patterns and textures, evocative of the passage of time and deeply connected to cycles of menstruation, motherhood, and menopause. The labour-intensive process transforms the mechanical gesture of typing into a meditative, almost obsessive act, blurring the line between writing and drawing. 'M' not only reflects themes of rhythm and the materiality of language but also becomes a tactile record of bodily experience, endurance, and reflection.
Nik Ramage
Nik Ramage's 'Mixer Drawing Machine' is a kinetic sculpture that repurposes a kitchen mixer into an automated drawing device. With drawing tools attached to its spinning spokes, the machine generates spontaneous, unpredictable marks on paper when activated by the viewer. This piece playfully explores the intersection of art and engineering, raising questions of authorship and control in the creative process, as the marks emerge from mechanical movement rather than direct human intention. The 'Mixer Drawing Machine' embodies Ramage's fascination with mechanical absurdity, using found objects to create dynamic, non-human mark-making.
M. Lohrum PhD
M. Lohrum's 'Infinite Walk' questions orthodox notions of drawing by turning movement and collective participation into a mark-making tool. As participants walk within a defined space, their steps create marks that accumulate to form the drawing, capturing traces of their presence and interaction. Lohrum invites reflection on the relationship between movement, collaboration, and the very nature of drawing itself. Is a drawing defined by the marks left on a surface, or by the process that creates them? By using the body as both the instrument and subject, 'Infinite Walk' expands the boundaries of what drawing can be, elevating it from a static act into something dynamic and performative.
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