UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The reception for “Harriet M. Rosenberg: A Retrospective of Cut Paper,” previously scheduled for Jan. 31, has been rescheduled for 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28, in the HUB Gallery on Penn State's University Park campus.
Armed with her favorite pairs of scissors, a pair of 4-inch hair-cutting scissors, and fly-tying scissors with large finger holes, Rosenberg transforms paper and other easily cut materials into intricate and versatile designs. In addition to being displayed as originals, her paper cuts have also been used as stencils, screen printed onto recycled clothing, projected as part of theatrical sets, and used as the design for the State College Women’s Resource Center’s holiday cards since the 1990s.
Rosenberg began to cut paper artistically in her 40s. Making art from scissors and paper had already been familiar to her at a young age, due to her father’s job at a paper company and her affinity for cutting her own paper dolls. But it wasn’t until after her formal education — a degree in music and English from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota; a master’s in human development from Penn State; and a partial degree in theatre and additional classes in photography and printmaking, that she arrived back where she began — cutting paper.
She recalls, “When I began to carry paper and scissors in my purse years ago, I realized that I had found my medium at last.”
“Harriet M. Rosenberg: A Retrospective of Cut Paper” is on display through March 2 in the HUB Gallery.