Victoria Rabal

Papermaker

©Victoria Rabal

©Olga Segura

The elusive imprint of fleeting moments

Victoria received the Spanish National Crafts Award in 2023
She is a founding member of the International Association of Papermakers and Artists, IAPMA
Her work has been showcased in Argentina, Japan and China, and prominent European galleries

Being involved with a paper museum was a definite twist of fate in 1982 for Victoria Rabal, fine artist, print maker and art historian. She has directed the Capellades Paper Mill Museum in Catalunya ever since, finding in it her life vocation. The museum became a great laboratory of exploration for her, and for years she exchanged with renowned paper makers in the museum’s workshops. Victoria has since relocated her paper making operations to her private studio, where she continues her personal explorations to refine and sublimate materials such as the abaca tree and cotton fibres. She experiments with different natural colour dyes. Capturing the essence of things has been Victoria’s constant theme in her artistic explorations with paper. Not only are fibres 'captured' in her papers, but they also serve as the medium to imprint the elusive, fleeting and ethereal in her creations.

Interview

©Olga Segura

©Victoria Rabal

What brought you to Capellades and the Paper Mill Museum?: I got married and moved to Capellades, Catalunya in 1982, where I set up my own studio. I learned about the museum's renovation and was given the opportunity to organise the inventory. This allowed me to explore every corner of the rundown place and actively participate in its renovation. In 1984, I became involved in papermaking workshops and I have served as the museum’s Director since 1985.
When did you discover your artistic talents with paper?: Though I was already exploring with pulp and dyes in the 1980s and 1990s, much of my work was on Japanese paper. Lawrence Barker, master paper maker, suggested I start making my own paper for my artistic work. I began exploring and introducing the abaca fibre, which also has translucent characteristics, next to other materials to create varied effects.
What captivates you about paper?: I like to see how matter reacts and what its limits are. Making paper is a dialogue, a game of actions and reactions with nature. There are things you cannot anticipate or foresee and it is that surprise outcome that captivates me the most.
Why is the theme of capturing a constant in your work?: It is about capturing the fleeting presence of things, triggered by a feeling of absence and time’s relentless passage. This theme is ever present in my work, my paper making and prints.

Victoria Rabal is a master artisan: she began her career in 1982 and she started teaching in 1984