Sally Baldwin
Paper on Skin
Paper on Skin is an international biennial wearable paper art competition held on the North West Coast of Tasmania, an area with a long tradition in pulp and paper making. Sally has been selected for the finals twice and this year, 2024, was awarded the Paper on Skin Major Award for her submission 'After the Bushfires: Regeneration'. It looked at the beautiful lacy green and pink regrowth that some of the most burnt and blackened trees started to develop only a few weeks after the bushfires passed through in the Black Summer of 2019/20. Photography Grant Wells
Her piece consisted of a long, stitched paper shift dress with banksia pods embroidered into it, with a lacy collar and headpiece. A black paper shawl and small bag was also carried onto the catwalk.
Half way through the show the model opened the shawl to reveal the underside covered in lacy, bright green and pink paper lace. From her bag she took a sprig of green lace and added it to the headpiece
In 2022 Sally also reached the finals with a costume called 'Lost Flowers'. Another stitched paper piece, this time looking at the loss of native flowers due to warming temperatures. A long white coat with densely embroidered flowers at the top, becoming thinner and more sparsely spread towards the hem.
The head and neckpieces were constructed in wire with scrim dipped in paper pulp stretched across.
