Colombian artist Diana Beltran Herrera made quite a few fantastic portrayals of birds in paper: single forms, groups in wilderness tableaus, origami aviaries.
Using paper as her primary medium she presents notions of temporality and change, emphasising the power of transformation that continuously occurs in nature and human kind alike. Notable projects include her ongoing series of vibrant handmade paper birds. It’s simple, actually: Diana Beltran Herrera uses dexterity to the full. Through attaching together little pieces of coloured paper, she creates the most marvelous bird sculptures. Inspired by the filigree beauty of birds’ wings in motion she recreates three-dimensional collages from nature photographs that are naturalistically replicated through the use of paper.
“I do use photographs, is the first resource. I them draw these birds in illustrator and print the drawing in the real size of these animals, so I get the idea of their bodies and volume. This is pretty much all I need, and keep the photograph during the process to follow colour scale and details“, the artist says.
At the moment, Diana Beltran Herrera is working on display windows for important brands in the fashion industry. Along with private commissions, she has also been commissioned for projects for Lebeau-Courally Belgium, the Bristol City Council for the commemoration of the First World War Centenary as well as an Exhibition in Stuttgart supported by the Colombian Consulate (in July 2014).
“I grew up in Bogota, Colombia. I remember it started since I was quite young, that I really enjoyed creating stuff and spending time in my room doing all kind of things with materials that I found. I wasn’t very social at the time, so it was the perfect excuse for me to spend days and nights just working in my imaginary projects. I remember I was very interested in colour and pattern and was collecting some books of plasticine to get ideas of how to work characters and things that had volumes“, she admits humbly.
About the artist: Diana Beltran Herrera studied at the Jorge Tadeo Lozan University in Bogota, Colombia graduating with a degree in Industrial Design. In 2011 she moved to Helsinki to study ceramic sculpture at the Suomenkielinen School. In 2013 she relocated to Bristol where she is currently studying her masters degree in Fine Art at University West of England.
The fragile sculptures shown here are a mix of private commissions and pieces for several luxury brands who use her work in displays and advertising. Enjoy..
