French-born artist Beatrice Coron uses a simple two-dimensional material to portray three-dimensional elements of the human experience. With an X-ecto knife, she sculpts stories in paper, creating elaborate, fantastical worlds meant to explore our identities as individuals. “We have our roots,” she explained at a recent event she spoke at hosted by the Dallas Museum of Art, “we make our connections, and we take them [with us] to other places”. She asserts that her work is meant to be viewed fresh by each individual
viewer, based on our personal experiences.
She sees her art, and the venues through which it is displayed, as being instrumental in allowing for this personal experience. “When a piece can hang,” for instance, “you can go in the back of it, and [be able to] explore the different layers of identity we have in the world: mortal levels, our education levels”, and everything else that makes us unique in the world. Her work often displays scenes in a realtime way, showing movement, action, and vibrancy, and often incorporates lyrics and multimedia concepts.
Coron sees her work, which often portrays scenes of life in the area of New York City in which she lives, as appearing in her mind long before it comes out of the paper, and views her material like that of the sculptor, in which the image is buried within, and all she must do is cut it out. “Sometimes I start with a world [in my head] and I explore what it can be after”, she says. This is true regardless of the vessel through which the story is told, and Corn has worked with many: paper, metal, hard stock, and even glass. Her work has been featured publicly, on subways in the Bronx, as part of housing developments and public offices, as well as through artist books and traditional media. She has also created fashion pieces, designed weddings, and worked with corporations
worldwide. Currently, she is looking to work in mixed media, and her interests especially include interactive art.
More of Beatrice Coron’s mesmerizing work can be found on her website, www.beatricecoron.com.
