Co-sponsored by University of Iowa Center for the Book and Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature

Introduction by Timothy Barrett, Director, UI Center for the Book

Drew Cameron, director of the Combat Paper Project, will be an artist in residence with Hancher in the week before Kronos's performance of Beyond Zero. This discussion will be about Drew's work with the military, veterans, and civilians to make paper and book art. A native of Iowa City, Drew is a hand papermaker, printer, and book artist based in San Francisco. He has his degree in Forestry from the University of Vermont and served in the US Army from 2000-06. His current and ongoing work with Combat Paper is practicing and teaching the art and craft of hand papermaking and encouraging others to do the same. Drew will also talk about his experience with Warrior Writers and publishing books by veterans.

The Combat Paper Project is dedicated to using hand papermaking as a way to help veterans come home from war. By working in communities directly affected by warfare and using the uniforms and artifacts from their experiences, a transformation occurs. Through papermaking workshops, veterans use their uniforms worn in service to create works of art. The uniforms are cut up, beaten into a pulp and formed into sheets of paper. Participants use the transformative process of papermaking to reclaim their uniforms as art and express their experiences with the military.

Photo: One of eleven prints from Drew Cameron's portfolio accompanying Beyond Zero: 1914-1918, a work for string quartet with film for Kronos Quartet.