Portrait of a Woman, 2018

Hand-cut paper portrait of an elderly indigenous woman.

Made from two layers: the top is a single piece of white paper cut to form the figure while the bottom piece is spray painted with a simple geometric design. The background was kept simple using black, dark gray, and pops of medium-orange. The idea was to keep it interesting, but not distract from the delicate knife work details of the main figure.

Only the border and a few key areas of the figure were glued to the background. This allows some of the sections to lift slightly causing shadows that help the viewer see that this is a multilayered piece and appreciate the time and skill that went into creating it.