When it comes to mounting works done on this paper however, I was faced with all kinds of obstacles. I was definitely in uncharted waters.
The paper tends to give up pigments and dyes if these are laid down too heavily. This presents a grave problem in the customary wetting down the paper to relax the fibers before mounting. To sidestep it I tried to apply starch to the mounting substrate instead and brush on the dry painting. This alleviated the bleeding out problem ( for the most part ) but it was such a pain trying to brush out all the creases. In fact I tore up a few practice pieces in the process.
After I finally got better at this, the final product was far from ideal. Once the piece of "cicada wing" is fixed on a piece of substrate, it loses the very quality that gives it the tenuous feel. I've experimented with different substrate thickness, but even the thinnest substrate I have is still too smug, breathless and stiff. Imagine a beautiful lady donning elegant sheer lace, only to have the presentation destroyed by wearing something underneath the sheer garment. You get the picture.
I experimented with not mounting the painting at all, but to just pin it down on foam board, and surround the work with a border of foam board. On top of this border is the frame made with mat board.
Basically I was playing with a float type presenting of the artwork. The floating mat frame casted a delicate shadow and created a little breathing room such that the piece of cicada wing assumed a less restrained attitude.
This seemed like a workable solution to present works done on cicada wing paper. In the meantime, I am looking forward to more experimenting in 2014!
