Ukraine artist turns the page with paper cut-out art
Turyanska, who used to paint on glass, switched her attention to another medium - paper.
LVIV (Reuters) - A Ukrainian artist is reviving the traditional craft of ‘vytynanka’ making - paper cut-out designs - and turning it into modern art.
Olena Turyanska’s geometric cuts bring a new twist to the art form that was popular in 19th century Ukraine, when families who did not have higher means, would decorate their homes with paper cut-outs.
In her artistic journey searching for harmony and ideal symmetry, Turyanska, who used to paint on glass, switched her attention to another medium - paper.
Turyanska’s early works feature traditional folkloric motifs. She still cherishes her first trimming of a tree of life and two birds made some 30 years ago.
Since then, Turyanska has mastered the craft of carving paper and moved on to more sophisticated contemporary designs, which have been displayed at galleries in Berlin and across Ukraine.
The artist uses wrist bandages to protect her hands from excessive pressure and uses a thin sheet of paper to protect the canvas from sweat.
She says the presence of absence, or ‘nothing’, is at the centre of her three-dimensional creations.
The ‘vytynanka’ could look like simple prints if placed under glass, but with the use of light and shadows the works come to ‘life’, she adds.
Turyanska has created hundreds of works, most of which remain in private collections or have been exhibited abroad.
Interior designer Oksana Shumelda uses Turyanska’s work to bring modern minimalism into the homes of her clients.
"It is infinity, conciseness and harmony which is reflected here in such minimalistic ideal cut-outs and composition," says the Lviv-based designer.
Her work is also featured against the windows of Lviv library.
Turyanska is not the only artist playing with modernism and the vytynanka. Artist Daria Alyoshkina’s vytynankas take on a form that mimics stained glass windows.
The artists hope a revival of the tradition takes the vytynanka beyond Ukraine.
