If you think paper is only for notebooks and sketches, prepare to have your mind completely blown. Artist based in Bristol Diana Beltran Herrera pushes the absolute limits of the medium, creating impressively elaborate sculptures of flora and fauna using bright, colorful sheets. In recent years, her incredible paper sculpture art has grown massively in both scale and subject matter. By introducing fresh materials such as cardboard, cardboard and thread, she managed to evolve her three-dimensional forms into something truly impressive.
Lately, Herrera has moved from her gorgeous, signature flower structures and crisp leaf designs into a whole new area: mesmerizing coral formations. Coral reefs are famous for their mind-bogglingly complex geometry, making them a fascinating challenge to recreate by hand. To achieve this, he used yarn as a clever structural tool to sketch, connect and create dozens of colorful iterations filled with intricate tentacles and delicate skeletons. It’s a great crossover where papercraft borrows techniques traditionally reserved for fabrics!
When she’s not busy creating pieces for her personal collection, she designs massive commissioned projects for clients around the world. In fact, she sends her first family of research papers on corals to German Museum in Munich for a massive installation that opened at the end of June. Her stunning paper sculpture art completely redefines what can be achieved with simple materials, and I am officially obsessed with every aspect.
