Alexis Granwell

Commission for Penn Medicine’s Clifton Center for Medical Breakthroughs Curated by Katie Lee and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2025

This commission explores the materiality, tactility, and malleability of paper pulp. Both this painting and the nearby sculpture are made entirely from linen pulp paint and cotton paper, yet take on distinctly different forms. In this painting, Granwell captures the dynamic movement of spouting water or botanical growth, suggesting transformation and renewal. Working while the pulp is still wet, she repeatedly presses it to extract water—a technique that allows for textured layers. She allows the material to guide the direction of the work, responding intuitively to how the linen pulp settles. This dialogue with the medium, along with its irregular, skin-like surfaces, imbues the work with anthropomorphic qualities, making it feel organic and alive. This painting was created at The Brodsky Center at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, a collaborative hub for papermaking and printmaking.