Paper Cutting Silhouettes with Beatrice

Visual artist and illustrator Beatrice has been collecting and telling stories for the past thirty years. Her signature silhouette designs are displayed at major art institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Walker Art Center, and her public art has transformed subways, schools, and airports. Her work embodies her way of life – imaginative, fluid, and unconventional. She left her native France early on to pursue a series of odd jobs all over the world, from Egypt and Mexico to China and the United States. She has called Manhattan home since 1985, when she reinvented herself as an artist after having been, among other things, a shepherdess, truck driver, factory worker, and tour guide.

Beatrice’s life has been one of transformation – a series of curious adventures and experiences that have fueled and informed her approach to her art. She speaks many languages but is most captivated by the language of silhouette and “getting to the essential of things.” She loves to experiment with creating empty and full shapes that cast shadows, moving between two- and three-dimensional space to create immersive worlds. In addition to paper and Tyvek, she also creates works in stone, metal, rubber, stained glass, and digital media. A prolific artist, Beatrice is in constant pursuit of her creative instincts: “If you have an idea, don’t think twice – just do it.” Her fearlessness is her charm; it’s infectious.