Tiffany Miller Russell - Wildlife in Paper
I delight in the unique and unusual, and my goal when creating is to communicate with my viewer that excitement. I hope to pass along a little bit of wonder for the world around us.
My subject is the natural world. I find my inspiration in nature and the diversity of life, the individuality of a creature and its relationship to the world, and animals as cultural and artistic icons.
I work in cut paper sculpture, creating highly detailed three-dimensional collages.
The sculptures are created with found specialty and imported handmade papers. Many colors and patterns are available in my materials, and additional altering of color or texture may be done during any stage in the sculpting process. The drawing for each piece is well-researched, from thumbnails, to behavioral gestures, to anatomical sketches, to the detailed line drawing that the artwork will be created from.
Specialty papers are cut flat, then given shape as I score lines with a bone needle and create forms by pushing the paper with my fingers. Elements may be subtly tinted with a paintbrush dusted in pastels. Acid-free tacky glue is applied by toothpick, and all but the largest elements are placed using tweezers. The sculptures are protected in shadowbox frames behind Conservation UV Glass or Museum Acrylic.
Although my medium is three-dimensional, my influences are derived from the visual approach of two-dimensional mediums such as oil painting. From a technical aspect, I strive to explore the limits of my art materials and create sculpture that resembles painting.
My work has exhibited in national and international juried museum exhibitions, including the traveling exhibit Art and the Animal, Art of the Animal Kingdom at the Bennington Center for the Arts, the Colorado Governor's Invitational, and the International Paleo Art Exhibition at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. I have taken home the top awards for three dimensional work in many of these shows, and also received Honorable Mention and Finalist in the Artist’s Magazine Art Competition.
I am a signature member of the Society of Animal Artists, an associate member of Women Artists of the West, and a member of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators.
