Paper transforms in so many ways. The contents we can place on its surface has the power to transform our thoughts and views. But sometimes, immensely talented people use the medium to create unexpected masterpieces. One way of transforming plain paper into something amazing is through the art of paper quilling or paper filigree. Historians have speculated that the transformative art originated in Ancient Egypt, but more evidence of the craft can be traced back to the Renaissance Era, specifically in France and Italy. The art form’s popularity took a slight dip for some time, but it appears that artists continue to enjoy the quilling paper, like Bosnia-based artist Vesna Rikic!
In an interview, Vesna Rikic recalled how her interest and deft skill in paper art began. Apparently, she’d been practicing various types of paper art like kirigami and origami ever since she was a child! Sure, folding paper into cranes was fun. But it all changed when she saw a quilled paper artwork. She was so taken by the artwork’s visual impact that it pushed her to learn about paper quilling. And she now, Vesna has created a lot of seriously stunning quilled paper artworks herself!
“[The] pictures I create are entirely my choice and in them, you can recognize things I love the most. Sometimes when, I like some painting, I copy it in [the] quilling technique, and sometimes I just leave it to my own imagination and feelings.”
This paper quilling queen from Bosnia recreated Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night
Vesna has gone a long way from just being curious about paper quilling. These days, she creates stunning, vibrant, and even playful quilled paper artworks. She has done a magnificent portrait of a woman with vitiligo surrounded by vibrant colors. Aside from portraits, Vesna also appears to enjoy turning paper into flowers, as they are quite dominant in her Instagram profile. But her recreation of Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night is quite possibly her most amazing work so far.
According to the artist, her recreation of Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night is among her personal favorites. She stressed that it took her a long time to finish this particular piece, since it had so many elements. Cutting paper into strips and rolling the into various sizes was definitely no easy task. But since she loved the painting so much, Vesna persevered to finish what she started. She said,
“I created it with a lot of patience and love.”
Vesna proves that you don’t need to buy expensive materials to create something extravagant
With such stunning quilled paper artworks, it’s natural to assume that Vesna uses specialty papers to create her work. But this is not the case! According to the artist, paper quilling isn’t a big thing in the little town that she lives in (she lives in Tuzla). Because of this, finding specialty paper for her craft is pretty difficult. So she decided to adapt and make do with what she can easily get instead.
“In my country, quilling is not popular at all. There is nowhere to buy quilling paper or quilling tools, that’s why I mainly improvise and try to work with what I can find. I use plain colored paper (copy paper) or thick paper that I can find in bookstores.”
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“Instead of needle for winding tape, I use toothpick.”
“As a base, I use artist canvas panel [in] different sizes, depending on my picture.”
It takes either a day or several days to finish a piece
When asked about how much time Vesna spends on paper quilling, she replied that the duration depends on the intricacy and size of the piece. “For some I needed a couple of days but for the other[s], a lot more than a month,” she said. Vesna further explained that her production progress also depends on how much free time she has to work with her hobby.
“The picture that took me the most time was the map of the world because I needed a lot of small circles. The other one was the Starry Night.”
Vesna has received plenty of inquiries about the availability of her Starry Night piece. However, she has no plans of letting it go. The piece is not for sale. So if you want this dimensional recreation of Van Gogh’s masterpiece to adorn your wall, you’ll just have to learn how to do paper quilling yourself!
Source: Vesna Rikic Instagram