Overview

Renowned paper artist Yulia Brodskaya pushes the boundaries of the centuries-old craft known as paper Quilling. 

Originally trained as a graphic designer and illustrator, her first paper artworks were born out of a desire to create self-promotional work to impress potential design clients. But by spelling her name ‘YULIA’ in strips of paper, she had unknowingly entered the world of this centuries-old paper craft and completely reinvented it: thanks to a decade of Yulia’ s paper art practice, Quilling is enjoying a modern revival.

Soon after discovering her passion and unique style, Brodskaya has swiftly earned an international reputation for her innovative paper illustrations and was named the ‘breakthrough star’ of the 2009 by Creative Review magazine. Her modern take on the paper craft practice has helped her build an impressive list of clients in just a few short years (over 200 projects and brand collaborations with clients ranging from Neiman Marcus to Hermes, Issey Miyake to Wimbledon, Paramount Pictures to Balvenie among many others). In 2016 she also created a Forever® stamp design for United States Postal Service.

Alongside the brand collaborations Brodskaya was continuing her experiments with paper pushing herself to produce new and increasingly complex pieces of a more personal nature. Gradually she completely switched the focus of her art practice to portraiture and natural motifs using edge-glued paper strips techniques. She describes her unique methods as ‘drawing’ and ‘painting’ WITH paper instead of ON it.

Brodskaya’s book Painting with Paper—Paper on the Edge explores this most innovative technique: imitating brushstrokes with tightly packed strips of paper, achieved by combining different colour strips in a method similar to mixing paints on a palette. This new technique comes as close to actual painting as possible, but with the added quality of a third dimension.

The results showcase Brodskaya’s love of paper as a material; her latest experiments with portraiture straddle the line between paper quilling and Impressionist-style paintings demonstrating that paper art has got an amazing potential to convey feelings and emotions just like other mediums already celebrated in the Fine Art world.