Sculptural Paper Lantern Workshop
Sculptural Paper Lantern Workshop
When: Saturday September 27, 2025
9a-12p
Where: Sacramento, CA (address provided upon registration)
Make your own handmade paper and then transform it into a sculptural paper lantern.
In this 3-hour workshop, participants will learn how to make sheets of paper out of kozo/dak (paper mulberry) fiber, using tools and techniques traditionally found in Korea and Japan. Steph will demonstrate and guide participants through the papermaking process, including sheetforming, couching, and pressing.
Each participant will receive a semi-customizable copper wire lampshade structure, hand-built by co-instructor Kevin Columna. After sheets are lightly pressed, Kevin and Steph will demonstrate different techniques and considerations for covering wire structures with handmade paper. We will spend the rest of the workshop making our lamp sculptures; we will also have wire and pliers out for participants to experiment with making smaller freeform sculptures with leftover scraps of wet sheets.
Each participant will go home with a complete table lamp (lamp base, lightbulb, and handmade paper lampshade), plus any other small sculptures made during the workshop. Sculptures will still be wet and fragile at the end of the workshop; participants will have the option of picking up their sculptures the following day, after the sculptures have dried.
This workshop is beginner-friendly, though it’s best for folks who like to work with their hands and are open to experimentation and imperfection. (Rather than sleek and flawless, think: charming and handmade!) The workshop is limited to 12 registered participants. All materials are included in the workshop price.
SLIDING SCALE PRICING (limited # of seats per pricing level):
$90 - reduced rate - please only select if you are unable to pay the standard rate.
$120 - standard rate - this is the base price for this workshop. Please select this option if your financial capacity allows.
$150 - solidarity rate - please select this option if you are financially able and willing to contribute to my workshop solidarity fund, which allows me to offer sliding scale pricing and scholarships for multiply marginalized folks.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS
Steph Rue (she/her) is an artist working primarily with handmade paper and books as her medium. She is a 2023 Living Cultures Grant Recipient through the Alliance for California Traditional Arts and a 2023 Individual Artist Fellow through the California Arts Council. She received her MFA degree from the University of Iowa Center for the Book and BA degree from Stanford University. Steph is a 2015-2016 recipient of a Fulbright Research Grant to South Korea, where she studied traditional Korean bookbinding, papermaking, and printing. Her artist books and paper works are held in a number of public and private collections, including Yale University, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Library, and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Steph is a co-founder of the Korean American Artist Collective and a member of the Book/Print Artist/Scholar of Color Collective. She is also a co-founder of Hanji Edition, a publisher of fine art and print works with/on hanji. Steph teaches workshops and classes on papermaking, bookmaking, and related arts, with an emphasis on East Asian techniques, and has taught at Mills College, Penland School of Craft, and the San Francisco Center for the Book. Steph lives, works, and teaches out of her home studio in Sacramento, CA.
Kevin Columna is a neurodivergent maker of all things and is obsessed with working with his hands. While he graduated from Cal State Sacramento with a bachelor's degree in physics, Kevin has always been captivated by the art of everyday materials. He has taken classes in silversmithing, glass lampworking, electronics, photography, and ceramics. Kevin has taught as a substitute teacher for the Elk Grove Unified School district, as well as led jewelry classes at The Studio 26 in Cameron Park. He is currently a health physicist for the state of California, and enjoys collecting musical instruments.