Paper Artist

 

Emma Van Leest

 

  Left – Beginning always, 2010, paper, foamcore and glue, 36 x 24cm. Right – Terroir, 2010, paper, foamcore and glue, 36 x 24cm. image was found online.

 Words could quite do Emma Van Leest justice. There sure is a lot of paper engineering / paper folding and cutting around these days… but have you ever seen anything quite like this!?

Emma’s intricate creations demand a double-take. ‘Is that HAND-cut?’, ‘is that PAPER?’ and ‘How LONG did that take?’ are commonly overheard at an Emma Van Leest show! What is amazing about this work, is that no matter what your interest or knowledge of fine art, Emma’s work never fails to engage curiosity! There is just something so mind-boggling about the incredible detail in these works, achieved with the simplest of materials – a sheet of archival paper and a blade.

On completing her honours year in Fine Arts at RMIT in Melbourne, Emma traveled to Indonesia to study Balinese and Javanese folk art – including the ancient art of shadow puppetry. Later, she was the recipient of an Australia Council Emerging Artist’s Travel Grant, and visited China to study traditional Chinese paper cutting techniques. These days her work draws from a myriad of references – Nature and plant-life, orientalism, folk art, Medieval saints, Hindu literature and children’s fairytales.

 Below is an interviwe with Emma Van Leest, I may add this isnt all of the interviwe but selected areas that I found intersteing.

What have been some favourite recent projects / pieces (would be great if it’s possible to supply images of those you mention if possible?)

I was very proud of the Perpetua works – in particular, the works Perpetua and Héloïse. I really enjoyed participating in the installation of Consumed – it was exciting to do something a little different to my usual work.

How long does each piece take to make as a general rule?

Anything from half an hour for a little piece like Transcend to 2 months for a recent commission I did which was 2.5m x 1m. It also depends on how detailed it is, the shapes I’m cutting, whether I’ve had coffee, etc.

Where do you turn for creative inspiration – travel, cultural references, books or the web etc?

I turn to all those sources for inspiration – I spend a lot of time in the Baillieu Library at Melbourne University, and I use a lot of photos from my travels overseas. These days I do also go to the internet a lot because there are many more high quality images available than there ever used to be. Sources like the Gutenberg Project are invaluable.