Emma Van Leest has a unique style of paper art. Some of her pieces, though they are the same color, contain more than one layer. This is interesting because a lot of the overlay occurs on the outside rims of the scenes. In art that we’ve seen previously the layers have been subtle build ups with each layer added on top being larger than the rest and adding more dimension. In this case, each layer tells its own story. The background is the main story with the foreground adding a degree of skill in meshing the layers together without overpowering the main focus of the piece.
Like many others in her field her tools of choice are a scalpel and sheets upon sheets of archival paper. After completing her Fine Arts courses Emma was given an Emerging Artist Travelers Grant and decided to travel to China and learn first-hand about the art of paper cutting. The style of her work is heavily influenced by the way in which she was taught. Her themes include that of orientalism, nature and plant-life, folk art, Medieval saints, Hindu literature and children’s fairytales.
I am interested in the way she uses space and voids in her work. Though Emma Van Leest creates very intricate paper art she knows how to use positive and negative space. She knows when to push the envelope and keep cutting, but she also knows when to leave more white space and let peoples imagination do the rest of the work.
creationdistinction 