Emily Babette

I've been thinking a lot about human existence and history. Our lives are so fleeting and perishable. Excruciatingly so. Sometimes I feel exuberant with the knowledge that I am living. Other times I wish I could reset my life and start again; a little more graceful, a little less clumsy. Either way, I acknowledge the fact that we are on borrowed time. The earth is stable in its instability; revolving in cycles of life and death, abundance and famine. Somehow, perpendicularly to the subtle inherent chaos, we manage to live out our duplicated lives on the outer surface of this lonely planet. As we pass flame and myth down from one generation to the next, we convince ourselves that the elegant order of existence denotes personal entitlement and proof of a higher reality. Somehow, the perfected actuality of all suitable qualities needed for this life indicates the existence of an even better reality, so it is justifiable to take for granted this one. This paradox I will never wrap my

In the beginning of the spring of 2017, I started experimenting with paper cut art. I am aware that paper cutting has been a craft and art form for hundreds of years. In fact, according to Wikipedia's page on  Papercutting , "Paper cut art appeared during the Han Dynasty in 4th century AD after the Chinese official, Cai Lun invented paper in 105 AD. The oldest surviving paper cut out is a symmetrical circle from the 6th century Six Dynasties period found in Xinjiang China." Sonja Peterson cut-out piece from her show 'Transverse Travesties', Purdue University, Spring 2017.  My initial source of inspiration was seeing Sonja Peterson's exhibit called ' Transverse Travesties ' at the Robert L. Ringel Gallery in the Steward Center at Purdue University, IN, in March or April of 2017. I reacted intensely to the lace-like  intricacies, patterning, and merging of space due to the flattened silhouetted shapes of her subject matter. Additionally, I w