Vintage: 1984
Nation: Germany
Specificity: Freehand paper cutting
Artistic movement: Paper art
Biography
One might compare Anna Bellmann’s work to that of a lace embroiderer. The finesse of the workmanship makes the object so fragile, but thanks to the interplay of light and shadow, it asserts itself in space and freezes our gaze, impressed by so much detail. It gives the impression of an optical illusion made of filigree.
Anna Bellmann grew up on Lake Starnberg, between Munich and the Alps. An artist from an early age, her fascination with working with paper gave rise in 2008 to her small art studio called “Feine Papierobjekte”.
It’s after a hike or a trip that her creativity is at its peak, and nature gives her the inspiration she needs through the vegetation, changing forms of nature, living beings and landscapes she discovers. She then transcribes on paper (on a small scale) the emotions she feels (on a large scale), always and only with 2 accessories: paper and a cutter!
Each of her creations is made freehand, without any prior drawing, right down to the smallest detail, from simple white paper, as fragile, light and ephemeral as nature, whose shapes she tries to capture with her cut-outs. The interplay of light and shadow is the very essence of her art.
Only a handful of artists worldwide have this level of mastery of paper-cutting, which is why she exhibits every year at the INTERNATIONAL PAPER ART BIENNIAL in Shanghai.
With such purity and lightness, this is our artist at heart, who manages to thrill us with a simple sheet of paper!