Sabrina Transiskus

Paper artist

©Sabrina Transiskus

A journey in paper

Sabrina studied fashion design and model making
She started her own workshop in 2007
For her, paper is a very contemporary material to work with

Paper artist Sabrina Transiskus won't stop working on something until she feels she's made it as good as it can be. Her tools are very simple: a segment blade cutter, some glue and her own hands. She cuts everything herself in what is perhaps a rather old-fashioned way of working, but it's very important to her, since she considers it part of the creative process. For example, she may be taken in a different direction than planned if a piece of paper that was supposed to go in the bin ends up looking better than the actual cut-out. Sabrina believes that people who create something with their hands put a little bit of their soul into their work, and it's this that makes handmade products such an antidote to our fast moving, ready-made consumer world.

Interview

©Sabrina Transiskus

©Sabrina Transiskus

What was the first paper object you made?: When I graduated from fashion school in Germany, I moved to Paris, where I joined the design team at an haute couture fashion house, before starting to work as a freelance fashion stylist. I was a bit short of money, so when a friend's birthday arrived, I made a present out of paper instead of buying something.
What inspires you?: I like little precious things; things that you look at and they make you happy. Inspiration can be found in everything that surrounds me. Books, films, words, shapes, nature, fabrics, porcelain, the internet, food, a smell, conversations, or a bit of paper that is supposed to go in the bin. And my daughter, Alba.
How would you define what you do?: When I work with paper in a intense phase, creating something with my own hands, it feels like leaving on a journey. At the beginning I don't know where that journey will take me and I try to give a bit of my life to it, hoping to make the object come alive. I spend a long time reflecting on elements and details.
What do you love most about your craft?: The material itself. The original idea of paper as a medium, spreading knowledge, art and enlightenment, has reached a point where some people might consider it old-fashioned. But paper has now experienced a fresh identity; it has reinvented itself by entering the world of art and design.

Sabrina Transiskus is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2007