Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bianca Levan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Bianca, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?

I had started papercutting in early 2012; and a few months later, there was an open studios where the studio building opened to the public and people could visit the artists’ studios. An artist came by and told me that she liked a specific piece and asked how much it was. I didn’t have an answer because I didn’t think anyone would be interested purchasing one, so I hadn’t considered prices! The idea of an art trade came up and that felt so much more meaningful. The idea of us both having mutual admiration and trading art felt like the perfect way for me to release my first piece. I consider this my first “sale.” The next piece was the first piece I sold – for $100. I was so thrilled (and am to this day) that someone connects with a piece enough to purchase it and live with it or give it as a gift.

Bianca, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My creative journey has been incredibly non-linear. As a child, I didn’t start off wanting to be an artist. For me, my passion for papercutting arose out of a desire for self-expression. Throughout my childhood and teen years, I took some oil painting classes, tried playing piano and guitar, and creative writing, but those didn’t stick.

In 2011, I went to San Francisco open studios for the first time. It was 3 floors of studios in a large building. With tons of artists, some open spaces, and some private studios; the wooden floors were spattered with paint and there was a beauty and messiness to it. Seeing the variety and amount of art was just intoxicating. So, soon after that, without any sort of art practice or medium, I started renting a 2-wall art cubicle. And there, I started exploring drawing, acrylics, and just other mediums.

Later that same year, I was at Green Apple Books, one of my favorite places, with wooden aisles so tall that you can’t see over them and creaking floors. But, I had picked up a book of contemporary papercut artists published by Chronicle Books and was instantly transported. The pieces in there were the most beautiful things I had ever seen.

So, one day when I was in the studio, I decided to give paper cutting a try. My first paper cut was with a box cutter and a paper bag. It was a crude papercut, but even then I knew there was something there. It was a true “A-ha” moment. It was the first time I explored creative mediums that and the product was pretty close to what I had imagined. And, for me, that was so freeing, but also thrilling.

Each piece I make is hand cut using a scalpel blade and a single sheet of paper, frequently black paper. The process of papercutting is a form of emotional processing for me. While creating a work, I am reflecting on a question or experience in my personal life. I start with a blank paper and as I remove and extract pieces of paper bit by bit, an image begins to appear.

To me, the artwork and process of papercutting serve as a metaphor for discovering what’s beneath the surface or trusting the unknown. To me, papercutting is experimenting with the presence or absence of something – an idea, of paper.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think that something that can be challenging to understand (no matter what one’s orientation to creativity is) is something that I still struggle with. It is this: not every creative impulse needs to be documented for social media, made into a final product to be sold or to be considered of value, or even completed or finished. With the pressure of needing something to be final and complete, it’s no wonder that it’s hard to even start. It hits on “the purpose” of art or “why do it?”, but my journey as a creative is just that – a journey. It’s a choice I’ve made for living my life and I’m under no illusion that I’ll ever get to the end.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There are so many rewarding aspects to being an artist, but the most rewarding to me, would be the COMMUNITY that is built and CONNECTIONS that are made.

I spent a majority of my childhood and young adulthood searching for a way to express myself. In finding papercutting and renting an art studio among other creatives, I was hungry for conversation, hearing their stories, and being a part of an art community. I volunteered for arts organizations and non-profits, showed up to sketch nights where I didn’t know or talk to anyone, and just wanted to be around art and the people making it. Over time, continuing to be curious developed into friendships and bonds. It’s been a community that shows up and supports one another.

There are the connections that I’ve made with other creatives, yes, but I have also made connections with engaged art viewers and collectors. People have their own responses and interpretations to a work. Each piece I make is incredibly meaningful and imbued with a lot of time and emotion, so having someone connect with it is incredibly rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://biancalevan.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biancalevan/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BiancaLevanArt
• Other: Interview on Beautiful Possibility Podcast with Papercut artist Bianca Levan on processing life through art: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/14-papercut-artist-bianca-levan-on-processing-life/id1602406781?i=1000553443803