When I first was working with paper pulp as medium for my pieces, my first impulse was to mark up the surface. I worked horizontally, tearing and marking the wet pulp. Showing the essence of the fiber became a statement about landscape more as a topographical map where no side is up. Many of these pieces were earth pigmented red sheets with a skin of buff or ochre, which only showed up in the rift or where man had made his mark. In the book “Papermaking” by Jules Heller the author wrote: ”If you have ever wondered about the surface quality of unknown, strange planets in our galaxy (including the one we inhabit), that sense of wonder can be curiously satisfied on examination of this recent work by John Babcock. Babcock’s two and occasionally, three-layered portraits of faults and fissures in the crust of Space-ship Earth cannot but remind you of micro San Andreas Faults, especially if you are aware of and sensitive to the topography of California. Since the artist does most of his work outside his California studio, except in very cold weather, I strongly suggest the essence of the young, rugged geological environment of the West has seeped into the pores of his skin and permeated his mind, to be reborn as statements of magic about his world.”
