Art made of paper, my new passion

Since the very first moment I arrived at Edinburgh I have had a will to develop my creativity. It is not the first time that I have this feeling, before I tried painting and with the theatre. Being surrounded by people that make things, make you want to create too. And the city, this inspiring city full of cultural life forced me to investigate. I decided to start with paper craft. I thought that it was a cheap material and the tools were common. I bought three wonderful books through which I have discovered a world of possibilities and the work of great artists such as Bovey Lee.

With a simple X-Acto knife, Bovey Lee cuts by hand all her works. Starting from sketches, she captures her ideas in digital templates that she uses as a visual guide. She employs the natural white colour of the rice paper, so light and shadows become essential elements in her art. These cut paper works explore the the human and environmental impact of urbanization which in the artist opinion is defined by power, sacrifice and survival. As a result, she creates amazing works with an incredible visual strength that contrasts with the fragility of the paper.

 Bovey Lee Tsunami-Oblivious

27x36.5”, 2009

Bovey Lee. Atomic Jellyfish

27x49”, 2007

Images from http://www.boveylee.com

Summerhall Co-Creation Evening

Last Thursday I went to a co-creation event at Summerhall. That evening we had the opportunity of knowing better this cultural centre and meeting new people with similar interests. We started with a tea, coffee and biscuits (very British) and we followed with a tour around the Summerhall and with several talks. The fist one was run by Judith Doherty, founder and Chief Executive of  Grid Iron Theatre Company. She spoke about the characteristics of their shows and about how some of them were result of non usual collaborations The second talk was presented by Jamie Coleman, founder of the technology incubator TechCube. In this, four speakers highlighted the necessity of collaboration between creatives and technology companies. Finally a talk by Anu Selva Thomson inform us about the new program of Art residence that Summerhall will run. After that a free drink at the Royal Dick pub to socialising.

It was my first  such experience and although it wasn't that I was expecting, I learnt two important things: Forget your social fears and don't go with friends since both things can stop you meeting new people.