Valérie Jolly

A graduate of London’s Saint Martins School of Art and Design, Valérie Jolly received the Royal British Society of Sculptors Award in 2008.

Valérie Jolly’s work is characterized by silk paper sculptures molded onto everyday objects. The combination of tissue paper, white glue and water enables her to capture all the details of the object, like a second skin, but also its place in space.

The artist also creates abstract light sculptures. Among these is the Edgy series, featuring a tangle of paper cubes, like an alabaster trompe-l’oeil. Illuminated from within, these delicate creations straddle the border between art and design.

For the Fonction Oblique series, Valérie Jolly molds long, elegant shapes in tissue paper, which she combines with cut stone such as marble or travertine. The paper sculpture creates a mirror effect with the cut stone one. We find this same association in her brand-new Tectonic series.

Valérie Jolly is also exploring new ways of working with her preferred medium, and has recently begun creating tapestries made entirely of silk paper. Her work Composition Chromatique I is characterized by a cameo of reds and oranges, ranging from the most intense to the most diluted hues. Transparent watercolor nuances reveal the veins and texture of the paper, as well as subtle gradations. Once the paints have dried, she cuts them into a multitude of strips that make up her tapestry, before assembling them by gluing them one by one to a strip of tissue paper, to the dimensions of the final piece.