Working Loose presents
CHEWED PAPER
October 18th–November 18th, 2025
Working Loose: 49 Main Street, Blue Hill, ME 04614
Opening Reception: Saturday, October 18th 5pm - 7pm
This fall Working Loose gathers seventeen artists to explore the modest medium of paper and glue. Chewed Paper is a celebration of papier-mâché—a deceptively humble medium that has endured across centuries, cultures, and continents. From the fortified surfaces of medieval armor to the festive vibrancy of piñatas, masks, and parade costumes, this exhibition honors the tactile, transformative nature of a craft born from the simple union of paper and paste.
Contributing Artists Include: Elizabeth Atterbury, Michael Berryhill, Strauss Bourque-LaFrance, Meghan Brady, Taussen Brewer, Margot DeMarco, Brianne Doak, Annika Earley, Mary Fleming, A. Kori Girard, Alexis Granwell, Lina Puerta, Eamon Monaghan, Wilson Minnows, Park Pardo, Melissa Scherrer Paré, Paul Wackers
Papier-mâché, quite literally “chewed paper,” holds a unique place in the artistic lineage of humanity. Its accessibility belies its power: scraps and refuse become vessels of imagination, protest, play, and protection. Each piece in Chewed Paper reaffirms that what is discarded can be reassembled into something vital—expressive, joyous, even defiant.
In an age increasingly mediated by screens and fleeting digital imagery, Chewed Paper urges us to slow down and get our hands dirty. It speaks to the necessity of physical making in a chaotic world. The labor of layering, molding, and drying becomes a quiet act of resistance against the ephemeral. It reminds us that craft is not just heritage—it is presence, play, and persistence. It’s a call back to the kind of creativity that doesn’t require a Wi-Fi signal—just a pile of old newsprint, some flour paste, and a good dose of ingenuity.
This show invites viewers to reconsider paper not as something to be thrown away, but as something to be chewed on—reworked, reshaped, and reimagined into something new.