When Durham-based artist and Duke Arts Create Instructor Becca Ibarra makes paper, she begins with what most people disregard. Paper is usually thought of as a fresh start: a blank page of endless possibilities. But, in Becca Ibarra’s practice, paper marks a comeback of sorts. It is the quiet aftermath of what has already been said, printed, and discarded: a repurposing that does not lend itself to efficiency or production, but to mindfulness. 

“I make paper. I weave. I paint and draw,” Ibarra says simply. Her work lives in what she describes as the realm of abstract minimalism, but its intentions run deeper than form. She often describes her practice as a “self-study in visual form,” a phrase that feels less like an artist’s personal statement and more like an open door into her way of thinking.

For Ibarra, art functions as a kind of meditation: a gentle check-in rather than a final destination. “I don’t think the art itself has changed that much,” she reflects. “It’s more that I’ve changed and grown along the way.” The process remains steady, and it is rather the person holding it who evolves. Each piece becomes a quiet record of where she is, emotionally and mentally, in that moment.

“I don’t think the art itself has changed that much. It’s more that I’ve changed and grown along the way.”

Becca Ibarra, Durham-based Papermaker and duke arts create instructor

Nonetheless, that sense of emotional grounding is inseparable from tangible places. Durham, she says, has been essential to her growth. Not because it demands perfection, but because it welcomes curiosity and mistakes. “There’s a real focus on access here,” Ibarra explains. “There’s not a pretentious vibe. Anyone can show up, even without experience, and engage.” In Durham’s creative ecosystem, belonging comes first. Art is not a gated space, but a shared one.

Her papermaking practice reflects that same ethos. Every material she uses has already lived a past life. “All my materials come from junk mail, or scrap paper I’ve thrifted,” she says. “Things that might’ve been tossed out.” Through a slow, deliberate process, Ibarra transforms excess into possibility, waste into a surface that someone else might one day use to create again. 

That slowness is intentional. In a culture that prioritizes speed, output, and constant production, Ibarra’s work resists urgency. “It’s a way of not putting value on production,” she says. “But in the process of working with your hands.” Her art is not much about how much is made, or how fast, but about staying present enough to feel the work take shape. 

Intuition guides that presence. Ibarra sees a deep overlap between intuitive art-making and our relationship to the natural world. “As humans, we belong in nature,” she says. “Spending time there doesn’t have a specific purpose. It’s about the experience.” Her work follows the same logic: creating without forcing meaning, allowing balance to emerge on its own.

“It’s a way of not putting value on production, but in the process of working with your hands.”

Becca Ibarra, Durham-based Papermaker and duke arts create instructor

That philosophy extends into how she thinks about sustainability. For Ibarra, it’s not just about materials, but about stories: where things come from, where they go, and who gets to participate. Sustainability, she believes, must also include emotional well-being. Working with her hands, whether papermaking, weaving or sewing, also creates opportunities for connection. “We’re so used to looking at screens to find something fun to do,” she says. “Making something together is such a more human experience.” It slows time, deepens attention, and reminds people of their own creative capacity.

Looking ahead, Ibarra is curious about where scraps might lead her next. A sewing machine, acquired just a year ago, has opened new possibilities: minimal clothing alterations for now, perhaps something quilt-adjacent in the future. Always, the question remains the same: how to use what already exists, and how to honor it through care.

Access remains central to that vision. Through Duke Arts’ free workshops and community programming, Ibarra sees a model for what sustainable art culture can look like. “When people get to spend time with local artists,” she says, “they see what’s possible.” Barriers fall. The myth that only “artists” get to make art begins to dissolve. 

“We’re so used to looking at screens to find something fun to do, making something together is such a more human experience.”

Becca Ibarra, Durham-based Papermaker and duke arts create instructor

In Ibarra’s studio, stacks of handmade paper rest quietly, each sheet carrying the memory of what it once was. Nothing flashy, nothing rushed, just evidence of attention. Of time taken and of waste revitalized.

Curious to try it out yourself? Becca will be teaching papermaking on April 21st with Duke Arts Create!

Registration for this papermaking workshop opens at 9 a.m. on Friday, April 17.

You can also watch the video below, where Becca walks through the papermaking process, and shows how something discarded can become the beginning of something new.

Keep up with Becca on Instagram.
Learn more about Becca’s creative work here.

This series is written and produced by Duke Green Devil interns Jenna Arafeh and Yuchen Chen, who are working with Duke Arts through the Duke Office of Climate and Sustainability internship program for the 2025–26 academic year.

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