Meet Bianca Levan | Papercut Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bianca Levan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bianca, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Balance between all the things that make a life can be complicated! And for me, has always been (and still is) a constant adjustment. I came to art as a self-taught papercut artist about 10 years ago, so much of my life was lived without an art practice. Since I started papercutting, there have been periods of time where art has taken up so much space that it left little time to tend to personal relationships. On the other hand, there have also been periods of time where it felt like I wasn’t making much art at all! I started to put in a little more structure around what days I went to the studio, but then that became a source of frustration and anxiety if I didn’t adhere to those days or hours. I’ve learned that I work best and can be the most creative with having both structured time to work in the studio and time to find inspiration in books, music, or even in walks – and that this time will look different from week to week based on what else is going on in life.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Each piece I make is hand cut using a scalpel blade and a single sheet of paper, frequently black paper. The process of papercutting is a form of emotional processing for me. While creating a work, I am reflecting on a question or experience in my personal life. I start with a blank paper and as I remove and extract pieces of paper bit by bit, an image begins to appear. To me, the artwork and process of papercutting serves as a metaphor for discovering what’s beneath the surface or trusting the unknown. To me, papercutting feels like playing and experimenting with the presence or absence of something – an idea, paper.
I am deeply inspired by printmakers, especially woodcut artists from Hiroshige to Lynd Ward. Hiroshige is a master of composition, and I like to study what the people in the background and imagine what their lives might be. I look to Ward for the emotion that he conveys in his work and the way light is captured – it’s truly stunning. The use of black paper is my personal homage to the beauty of a black ink.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There are so many great things to visit, see, and dine in San Francisco and the wider Bay Area! But here are just a few favorites in San Francisco. I recommend a visit to SFMOMA, but especially visiting the works by Anselm Kiefer. I remember turning a corner into the room where these large paintings are, and it was the first time I had seen his work. The scale and texture and drama of these pieces took my breath away. I sometimes go to the museum just to visit them.
There are so many wonderful bookstores and specialty bookstores, but Green Apple Books on Clement St. and Dog Eared Books on Valencia St. are very dear to me. They each have wonderfully diverse selections and a plethora of used books, which you can find me searching through.

The last thing I’d recommend is a visit to Billy Goat Hill. Under the eucalyptus trees is a landing with an awesome view of downtown San Francisco to Bernal Heights, but why I really recommend Billy Goat Hill is this – if you go to that landing with the trees and face north, you can see the view and street that was depicted in the paintings titled Cityscape #1 and Cityscape #3 by Richard Diebenkorn. Discovering this made me giddy.

Lastly, if you are ever in San Francisco in the October to November time, look out the citywide open studios (through ArtSpan). It takes place over 3 or 4 weekends in different neighborhoods across the city and is a great way to see art, visit art studios, and meet artists!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to dedicate this shoutout to two organizations that have been meaningful in my life. I deeply believe in arts’ ability to heal as well as its ability to build community.
Kids & Art is a non-profit that heals pediatric cancer through the arts by providing arts workshops, ArtKits, and more to children in hospitals across the country. In participating in the art projects, I’ve seen kids dealing with a very difficult experience be a kid and find joy and wonder again, I’ve seen a parent be able to relax and get lost in drawing and creating. It’s been rewarding and humbling to volunteer as an artist with Kids & Art.

The other organization I’d like to mention is The Guild of American Papercutters (GAP). GAP is a membership-based community that promotes awareness about, preserves the heritage of, and advances the art of papercutting. I discovered and joined GAP 10 years ago when I first started papercutting and was hungry to find and meet other artists using paper as medium. Years later, I’m still a member and have been grateful to serve as a board member as well as helping to organize one of the conferences.

Thank you for the opportunity to shoutout these organizations.

Website: https://biancalevan.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biancalevan/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BiancaLevanArt

Other: Interview on Beautiful Possibility Podcast with Papercut artist Bianca Levan on processing life through art: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/14-papercut-artist-bianca-levan-on-processing-life/id1602406781?i=1000553443803