Life’s imperfections

Tiffanie Turner’s larger-than-life paper sculputures capture the fleeting beauty of flowers in all their imperfections

Tiffanie Turner’s extraordinary paper sculputures capture the fleeting beauty of flowers

American artist Tiffanie Turner makes extraordinary, floral sculptures out of paper. And these are not just common-or-garden paper flowers, but dramatic, wall-hung pieces that pack a punch both because of their exaggerated size (some are more than a metre in diameter) and their incredible intricacy and detail. Recent work includes Specimen E (Platinum Blonde), a huge dahlia that bursts out of the wall in an explosion of carefully constructed florets, as well as smaller flower stems so realistic that they look alive. The sculptures are both visually stunning and technically highly accomplished so it comes as a surprise to learn that Tiffanie has only been making them since 2013, having stumbled across the art form almost by accident. She originally trained as an architect but when a health scare forced her to take time out she took up burlesque dancing and for one performance she needed a Frida Kahlo-style headpiece. Unable to find a suitable one to buy, she decided to make her own using Italian crepe paper, a decision that had unexpected consequences. “The costume turned out great and I was hooked by the paper as I just loved the colour range it comes in so I started ordering more,” she says. The pleasure of working with this beautiful paper, coupled with a long-time interest in botanical art encouraged Tiffanie to experiment further. After a lot of trial and error she says, “everything came together” and the following year she was given her first solo show, at Rare Device gallery in San Francisco; she hasn’t looked back since.

Dutch still life paintings are strong influences on Tiffanie’s work, but she gets most of her inspiration from the natural world. “There are a huge number of specimens out there and for every type of flower there are many, many

This page, from left to right Pieces made for Tiffanie’s recent exhibition, What Befell Us, awaiting their finishing touches. Tiffanie in her studio, surrounded by close-up photographs of flowers and Dutch still life paintings from the 17th century that provide her with the inspiration for her art. One of Tiffanie’s intricate paper constructions, Chrysanthemum I, 2014. Facing page Tiffanie’s training as an architect has come in useful in constructing some of her larger pieces, such as this Café au Lait Dahlia, 2018, which measures almost a metre across, although some of her pieces can be more than 1.5m.