An Ocean Made of Paper: Amy Genser’s Art is Incredible

There’s a hypnotic quality to Amy Genser’s art. Made primarily of paper, Genser treats paper as a pigment, as she rolls and cuts tiny pieces of colored paper which she then organizes in geometrical shapes. The end result often reminds of a birds-eye view of an ocean or a body of water, as the paper swirls around in colorful formations.

According to Genser, her fascination with paper dates back to her Graphic Design studies, when she took a paper-making class at the Rhode Island School of Design. “I started to play around with paper sculpturally in graduate school,” she recalled in an interview with All Things Paper. “I fell in love with the medium.”

Her sources of inspiration are—quite naturally—the natural world. Genser admits she’s drawn to things like the flow of water, the shape of beehives, and the organic irregularity of plants, flowers, rock formations, barnacles, moss, and seaweed.

“The rolling and cutting process is actually pretty quick,” she explained in the interview. “It’s the composition/editing process that usually takes the longest,” she admits. Painting the surface (either canvas or paper) first, using acrylic and gel medium, she then places her paper pieces on top and manipulates them until she has a satisfactory composition. “It’s like putting a puzzle together, only I don’t know the final picture until I see it,” she admits.

“I roll my pieces accordingly as I develop and build the piece. It’s a back-and-forth process. The paper and the piece lay on different tables in my studio. I attach the paper onto the canvas with PVA once I have the pieces where I want them.”

Take a look at some of her incredible pieces in the gallery below and follow her Instagram page for more.