While the digital age continues to envelop the practicality of printed words, paper and its fiber construction still find use in the day-to-day existence of modern society — whether it's in packaging (grocery bags), cleaning (towels, facial tissue), or some representative value (money, tickets). Paper's had a particularly universal use in the art world. Used for the surface of paintings, illustrations and photographs, it's spanned thousands of years of creative communication, evolving into its own medium. Kicking off the new year, Gallery5 explores the range of this malleable material with “Papier-MA›chete,” a national exhibit of two- and three-dimensional art displaying innovative and inventive uses of paper and its associated fibers, opening Jan. 7 at 7 p.m., on display through Feb. 18. 644-0005.