At the Allen Magazine, Fall 2025

AT THE ALLEN / FALL 2025 / 7 ON VIEW / STERN GALLERY / JUL 29–MAY 24 FIBERS OF BECOMING: CONTEMPORARY PAPER WORKS BY SARAH BRAYER, AIMEE LEE, AND LIN YAN At the intersection of tradition and innovation, Sarah Brayer, Aimee Lee (OC 1999), and Lin Yan transform handmade paper into powerful expressions of cultural memory and contemporary identity. Each artist works within distinct East Asian papermaking traditions—Brayer with Japanese washi, Lee with Korean hanji, and Lin with Chinese Xuanzhi. Yet all three engage in a meditative dialogue between ancient craft andmodern vision. Their works embody the paradoxical nature of paper—seemingly delicate yet remarkably resilient, characteristics that create a powerful metaphor. Through their hands, the medium of paper allows space for improvisation and renewal, while remaining a vessel of remembrance and tradition. Whether through Brayer’s metaphysical contemplations and fluid compositions, created as the wet fibers coalesce on a screen, Lee’s exploration of self and community through engagement with harvestedmaterials and labor-intensive methods, or Lin’s reflection on the fleeting quality of time andmemory by recording the physical texture of architecture in sculpted paper, these artists demonstrate how paper—with its ability to hold both history and possibility in its fibers—can be a catalyst for becoming something completely new. Organized by Kevin R. E. Greenwood, Joan L. Danforth Curator of Asian Art Sarah Brayer (American, b. 1957), From the Sea to the Stars, from the Luminosity series, 2019. Pouredmulberry paperwork with phosphorescent pigment and gold leaf. ©Sarah Brayer Aimee Lee (American, b. 1977), Multi, 2023. Ink, printed beaten and laced mulberry paper bark, and natural dye on hanji, thread. ©Aimee Lee Lin Yan (Chinese, b. 1961), All Streets, 2011. Ink, Xuan paper. ©Lin Yan

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