Garmany Magazine Cover Created by Artist Yulia Brodskaya
The colorful pieces created by artist Yulia Brodskaya combine intricate beauty with an element of surprise. See why we chose this artist to don the cover of the Fall 2022 issue of Garmany Magazine.
“I draw and paint with paper instead of on it.” That’s artist Yulia Brodskaya’s simple summary of the work she does, in which she manipulates paper of different cuts, colors, sizes and textures to create one-of-a-kind, three-dimensional pieces infused with life and emotion. But the works this Russian-born UK resident creates are hardly simple; they’re intricate and detailed, executed with her own constantly evolving techniques that require precision, not to mention days’ (or sometimes weeks’) worth of hard work and attention.
She’s one of the leading practitioners of the art of quilling (also known as paper filigree), which dates back to Renaissance France and Italy and 18th-century England and lately has enjoyed a burst of new popularity. But Brodskaya has made her own version of quilling something new and thrilling— paper creations of hers are now owned by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Country Music Association and Oprah Winfrey.
The 39-year-old was trained as a graphic designer, but for over a decade has been a highly regarded paper artist. “For these ‘drawn’ pieces, I follow a pencil line that I previously sketched on a background with bent or shaped segments of card or heavy paper, which I glue on top, thus creating a 3D interpretation of a line,” she explains.
About eight years ago she mastered her “painting” technique; she says it “imitates brushstrokes with tightly packed strips of paper, achieved by combining different color strips in a method similar to mixing paints on a palette.” This approach has become Brodskaya’s specialty: She’s written a book on the topic called Painting With Paper: Painting on the Edge, and even launched her own mobile game, “Paper Mingle.”
Check out the latest issue of Garmany Magazine where you’ll see samples of Brodskaya’s vast portfolio, from flower designs (which she finds therapeutic to create) to intense portraits that depict emotion as a traditional painting would, but with the added quality of a third dimension.
Is this what they mean by looking good on paper?
