Art Inspiring Art

I recently stumbled upon an art show of Rosa Leff, an artist who was inspired by papel picados and uses an exacto blade, a photo and paper (instead of tissue paper) to make her works. They were amazing, detailed and inspiring. She cuts out the white space to show landscapes of where she lives and visits. The patience and detail are breathtaking. She reminded me how much I love papel picados and papercrafts in general. 

I have always loved papel picados. In my city, they are strung up and down the Latino neighborhood, fluttering in the various elements. When I was still in the classroom, I put up an ofrenda each November, to honor the dead and I strung mini-papel picados to mark the space. Students would bring photos of loved ones or draw pictures of pets to honor and welcome them back for Dia de los Muertos. The papel picados were bright and colorful and meant to make a joyful resting space for the dead. 

 

When I got married, I cut my own papel picados and strung them throughout the the venue. Instead of bright, vibrant colors, I used white, just white. I cut out flowers, doves and other patterns. I remember seeing them flutter gently, as my dad walked me down the aisle. 

 

After seeing Ms. Leff’s work, I can’t wait to dig out my exacto blade, try a new format  and see what work I can make that tells my story. 

Last year, I stumbled upon the Mexican artist Victoria Villasana who also blew my mind wide open. She uses photography and yarn to create beautiful, provocative pieces that celebrate and comment on society. Mostly what I loved is that she took yarn or embroidery to paper, rather than fabric. She layered the two and made something so powerful. Once I viewed her work, I took out all my embroidery tools, but rather than prepare a new piece in a hoop, I printed out a photo and tried out her technique. I instantly fell in love with it. 

 

I embroidered photos of my kid, my dad, my neighborhood, my dog, my friends, my life. For black history month, I decided to embroider photos of black women. I was ambitious and had 28 amazing women ready. I did not make it to all 28, but I did do many. I love the layering of combining of two mediums into one and honoring these amazing women. 

     

 

Just as this writing community has inspired many of my writing pieces this month, so too have these artists inspired art by me. I am grateful for all the writers, artists, humans out there that inspire us to be better, fuller, expressive, joyful people.

5 thoughts on “Art Inspiring Art

  1. I absolutely love this! I am so glad I read your post today. You were inspired by artists and now I’m inspired by you. You’ve created some very magical pieces of art. I have always been interested in the use of old photographs in art pieces. The last time I was at the Museum of Modern Art in Chicago there was an artist who did this. She said, “Making images and repurposing images from archives are important ways to create and preserve memory.” I went to look for the artist and was reminded of how much I love art. Thank you for your post and inspiration. If I find the artist, I will send the info to you.

    1. Thank you so much for reading and responding. Yes, I’d love to know of other amazing artists, so please let me know if you remember.

  2. These are beautiful, and not art forms I know. The combination of written description with the photos helped me get a strong sense of the pieces and make me want to explore more. I also love seeing the pieces that you created–they are beautiful!

  3. This takes writing and art to a whole different level! It reminds me of Kleon’s “Steal Like an Artist”–we can all draw from each other’s creativity, if we just take the time to notice and act on what grabs us by the heart. Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures!

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