Two things become evidently clear when scrolling through Stacey Elaine’s Instagram feed: her love of animals and her love of color. A tissue paper artist and an illustrator, she takes a minimalist approach when it comes to her imagery.
Inspired by her love of plants and animals, Elaine’s creations reflect her fascination with the shapes, lines, colors, and movement found in nature. Using no template or prior sketching, Elaine hand-cuts her designs into the layers of wrapping tissue paper. She then gently applies and seals her designs onto heavy hot press watercolor paper.
“I’m drawn to the bold contrast between the saturated colors of the tissue paper and the bright white background upon which they are adhered,” she notes on her website. With many of her pieces containing intricate hand-cut designs, completing one single piece can take Elaine anywhere from a few hours to a few days.
“Because I don’t draw my designs before cutting them, sometimes it can take a few tries to create the perfect shape or form that I’m looking for, whether it be a flower, insect, or giraffe.”
According to Elaine, she often has only a vague idea of what she wants to make when, which means that sometimes the end result is vastly different from what she originally had in mind.
“My love of animals and color is unabashedly on display in my pieces,” she adds. “And I hope they bring you as much joy when you view them as it brings me to create them.”
