Artist from Glasgow Laura K. Sayers creates small paper worlds that are contained within the compact margins of a stamp. By illustrating children’s books and creating projects for magazines, the artist is left with a lot of little scraps that are given a new life thanks to a series of layered stamps.
Sayers begins by choosing a color palette, carefully selecting harmonious shades of paper and often repainting sheets to achieve the perfect tone. Referring to her own photographs, the artist then creates quick thumbnails to loosely guide her process. With sharp scissors and a scalpel, layers of carefully cut paper begin to take the shape of familiar landscapes, finished with perforated edges and sometimes nestled in a painted frame.
“Even though these stamps are very small and detailed, they have a lot of satisfying limitations: cropping a scene, using a limited color palette, and the amount of detail you can actually fit when cutting out shapes at that scale,” Sayers explains. “As someone who regularly overcomplicates things, I find these restrictions quite useful and a good challenge.”
Sayers is working on a number of book projects and planning her future stamp collections. Next month, some of her pieces will be on display in Portland Nucleus Galleryso make sure you follow the artist Instagram and see her website for more updates.
