Interview | Bianca Chang.

A4 Paper Festival | Twin. 135 sheets of 80gsm paper, 32.5 x 45.5cm.

A4 Paper Festival | PS. 145 sheets of 80gsm paper, 32.5 x 45.5cm.

Letter L (for Lisa). 135 sheets of 80gsm paper. 25 x 32.5cm.

Sydney based designer and paper artist Bianca Chang creates beautiful, intricate and mind-boggling paper sculptures which I recently noticed popping up all over the place. In fact, you might remember that I blogged about Bianca’s work back here. With so much attention and well deserved success already, it is surprising to discover that Bianca started to seriously explore the paper medium fairly recently, having participated in the A4 Paper Festival about a month ago (check out this great video she prepared for the festival.)

Looking at Bianca’s meticulous work of extreme precision, I imagine her to be someone who is exceptionally calm, level-headed, patient and persistent; with steely determination and unwavering focus, nerves of steel and a steady hand fit for open-heart surgery. Pair these qualities with a beautiful sense of aesthetic and a design sensibility, and we have ourselves a young star on the rise.

If you are keen to see Bianca’s work in person, then head over to the Showcase Gallery later this month (details below). Directed by Kellie Nichol-Smith, Showcase Gallery will provide one of the few avenues in Australia to support creative professionals wanting to develop their artistic profile. The Gallery is designed to boost the exposure of creative professionals working in design, advertising and fashion industries wanting to exhibit and sell the personal work. Hallelujah! On the opening night, Bianca will be in fine company of Mark Mawson, Chuck Bradley, Nicholas Alan Cope and Paul Meates to name a few.

Hope to see some of you there. And please join me in thanking Bianca for sharing her story with us today, and for being a part of yellowtrace. We are lucky to have her here before she hits the big time, if you know what I’m sayin’!

x dana

Miss Bianca Chang y’all!

Hello Bianca, welcome to yellowtrace and thank you for taking the time to e-chat. Could you please give us a quick introduction on yourself?

Hi yellowtrace thanks for inviting me. I’m a designer and paper artist based in Surry Hills, Sydney. I used to work full time as a graphic designer on anything from interactive and editorial design to place-making and branding. Now i spend the majority of my time as a paper artist and general maker of things. I made the conscious decision to move away from the computer screen and create with my hands and I’m really happy about it. It feels right.

When did you first decide that you wanted to become a paper artist? Do you remember your very first piece or your first commission?

I only recently decided to take on paper art more seriously after the positive feedback I received from the Paper Convention Collective’s A4 Paper Festivala month ago. Prior to the exhibition, there was no real decision-making involved in whether to work with paper or not – since I was young it’s always been a material that I’ve used to create. My typographic sculptures were just one of my many paper experimentations.
The first ever commission I received was a birthday gift for a friends’ partner – a Sydney architect. They said it was the best present they had ever received so it was a pretty encouraging start.

A4 Paper Festival | Dot. 200 sheets of 80gsm paper, 25 x 32.5cm.

Assembling the Dot and shooting stills for the stop-motion video I mentioned earlier. Hello patience!

What are you seeking to portray in your work? What is fundamental to your practice – your philosophy and your process?

I hand-plot and cut each sheet of paper in my sculptures. With the time invested in each piece I hope to give a sense of permanence to a material that is typically highly disposable. Accuracy and attention to detail is hugely important. In this way my work is quite architectural in that it’s a marriage of mathematics and aesthetics. It’s engineered beauty through repetition.

What was one of your biggest lessons learned since starting out?

Being creative is one thing, but if you want to make a living from it you need to stay organised and communicate well with your clients.

What are some of your methods to staying motivated, focused, and expressive?

You don’t really need motivating if you’re doing something you love. But I like to form relationships and collaborations with creatives in other fields – photography, fashion, music, design. When I’m surrounded by other young creatives who are ambitious and keen to do their own thing – the healthy competition keeps me focused.

Work in progress. Looks like this wouldn’t be a good time to sneeze.

Who or what are some of your influences? What other artists/ peers and creatives in general do you admire? Other sources of inspiration?

Inspiration is everywhere. Just walking around Sydney, there are some lovely signs, buildings, patterns and shapes that I draw inspiration from. The internet is a wonderful tool as well – its so easy to see what other creatives are working on around the world. I admire the work of Benja Harney, Yoshinobu Miyamoto, Emma van Leest and Kyle Bean – you can see how truly versatile paper is in their creations.

What has been your favorite project so far?

Probably my feature opener for O, the Oprah Magazine because my mum loves Oprah and it was the first project she was completely excited about.

Letter O for Oprah Magazine. 180 sheets of 80gsm paper, 12.5 x 12.5cm. Published as feature opener in May 2011 issue of O, the Oprah Magazine. Damn straight!

What’s next – can you share with us your vision and some of your goals?

In terms of my paper work, it’s still in it’s infancy. I’ve only been pursuing it seriously for a month. In my mind I can see it going in many directions, including coloring my own paper and creating large stand alone sculptures. It’s still a very long road to go and it hasn’t really been mapped out. I’m still in the moment and it will change when it changes. I will next exhibit at the launch of Showcase Gallery from 26th July – 13th August.