THE BEAUTIFUL CHARACTER OF SHAPE NOW

YULIA BRODSKAYA

The beauty of shapes within shapes is expressed as creases and wrinkles in artist Yulia Brodskaya’s new quilled paper portraits, celebrating the rich textures of aging.

Paper quilling, an art form that has been around since Renaissance times, involves the use of paper strips that are rolled, curled, and manipulated to create shapes that collectively form illustrations or decorations, much in the way mosaics do.

Also known as paper filigree, quilling was done by gentle-ladies in the 18th century, as a pastime activity, like needlepoint.

But Brodskaya has taken quilling to a whole new beautiful level. Working with bright jewel-toned strips of paper, she creates 3D portraits that capture the essence of her subjects in a way that reflects the color and depth that comes with many decades of their life experiences.

Brodskaya’s works are somewhat evocative of Van Gogh’s style of painting, with their multi-colored rolled paper quills, tightly juxtaposed, swirling together, creating an even more robust “impasto.”

While Van Gogh’s impressions were painted in oils, Brodskaya’s are “painted” with paper. She “paints” with colored shapes. She mixes her colored quills much the way a painter mixes paints.

Her studio is stocked with loads pre-cut strips of paper of various colours, as well as reams of uncut paper sheets. While her artworks are highly complex, she uses only 2 basic materials: paper & glue, although she does begin her pieces with computer sketches.

Originally from Moscow, Brodskaya is now based in the UK. She has studied a variety of artforms, which have all contributed to her style and skillset, including fine art painting, textile/fiber arts, origami, collage, and graphic design.

Brodskaya never trained in traditional quilling technique. Instead, she developed her own approach. She uses completely different kinds of paper and tools.

Historically, artists curled strips of paper around feather quills, but Brodskaya curls them around cocktail straws. She then shapes the paper curls further, looping and twisting them, to create “brushstrokes,” before mounting them onto her background surface, standing each curl on edge.

Gustav Klimt is the artist who has inspired Brodskaya the most. In particular, she was strongly influenced by Klimt's “Golden Phase,” with its intricate decorative style and its extraordinary ornate use of gold leaf.

Brodskaya’s works have their own decorative flourish, lushly textured, with her own unique chiaroscuro effects. Check out her video to watch her shapes come alive.