“ESL,” a large piece of art by UC Berkeley art graduate Isaac Vazquez Avila is one of the pieces featured in Arts Benicia’s new exhibition “Paper Cuts 2016.” The show features paper used in various creative ways in works by Bay Area MFA graduates. (Photo by Nick Sestanovich)

In the digital age, paper is an entity often overlooked. Not by Thomas Wojak though. The associate professor at the California College of the Arts in Oakland and member of Arts Benicia is the curator of the gallery’s new exhibition “Paper Cuts 2016,” featuring paper-based works by Master of Fine Arts graduates from nine Bay Area colleges.

Wojak says the theme— works on, of and with paper— is a reinvigoration of a show he had done at the Featherly Gallery in Vallejo from 2005 to 2008.

“Paper Cuts is a gathering of Master of Fine Arts graduates from this past spring, for the most part,” he said. ‘It’s kind of exploring what graduate programs are turning out, what artists in those programs are thinking about right now as far as working with paper. In this kind of digital age, it’s interesting to see that artists still embrace paper as part of their practice.”

On a similar theme, Arts Benicia had done an exhibition in 2008 titled “Cream— From the Top,” which featured the works of top graduates from Bay Area art programs. Wojak describes it as a spinoff of that show with a focus on paper.

“‘Paper Cuts is just the name I chose for talking about how there can be edginess in the work as well as reaction to a paper cut,” he said.

The show will feature works by 18 artists who graduated from— or in some instances will be graduating from— the masters programs in the following colleges: University of California Davis, University of California Berkeley, California College of the Arts, Mills College, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco State University, Academy of Art University, Stanford University and San Jose State University.

Although Wojak is an associate professor and chair of CCA’s printmaking department, the show will feature more than just printmaking. Some artists created textiles, others created chapbooks and one artist, Kunlin He of the San Francisco Art Institute, had made a replica of a Chinese print machine.

“It is incredibly varied,” Wojak said. “It is a very eclectic show. It’s hard when you have these group shows with this kind of a very general theme to try and achieve some kind of continuity in the show.”

Wojak said the general purpose was how artists documented their presence in the world, which paper has always been a tool for.

“Once paper was invented, people started writing things down,” he said. “They were painting on cave walls before, but until paper was actually invented it was harder to record all kinds of things, whether it was artistic or not.”

“What I like about the show is the various uses of paper and the way these artists record their experiences in the world,” he added.

Wojak hopes that viewers will gain a better understanding of how paper can be used in creative ways, especially from up-and-coming artists.

“I hope that they will take away a feeling that artists are still engaged with some basic materials in this digital world of ours,” he said. “They still are able to incorporate paper in some way into more contemporary cutting edge processes. I hope viewers are enthused that there’s still a lot of creativity going on in these programs. These are the artists of tomorrow that will be setting the trend for what’s going on in the art world.”

“Paper Cuts” will have its opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15 at Arts Benicia, located at 991 Tyler St. Suite No. 114. This event is free and open to the public. The exhibit will run through Sunday, Nov. 13. A Family Art Day will be held from 1 to 3 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 23. The gallery is open Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. For more information, call the gallery at 747-0131.

“Ode to Josef” by San Francisco State student Leslie Samson-Tabakin is a lithograph done on mulberry paper. Samson-Tabakin is unique among artists in the “Paper Cuts” exhbition in that she is being featured without having graduated from the MFA program yet. (Photo by Nick Sestanovich)

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