Lisa Lloyd is a renowned UK artist who builds incredible 3D paper sculptures using layers of hand-cut card to mimic the movement and shape of animals. Having tackled many different forms and shapes from the animal kingdom, Lloyd was looking for a new challenge when London-based fine printer and bookbinder Barnard & Westwood proposed to collaborate on FLUX, an artwork pushing the boundaries of printing.
Lloyd’s design is a praise to the aquatic world and it was influenced by the shape of both Siamese Fighting Fish and Koi Carp. FLUX is a captivating mix of pearlescent papers, hot foiling and craftsmanship. One of the unique features of Lisa’s work is that the pieces are made entirely from Fedrigoni Pearlescent ranges – Sirio Pearl and Cocktail – so everything had to be made without the support of wires or rigid skeletons.
Barnard & Westwood elevated Lloyd’s work to the next level by incorporating hot foiling adding additional depth and detail into the paper to bring the scales, and ultimately the fish, to life. They settled on Foilco gold and silver metallic foils to complement the pearlescent papers’ shine, as the subtle iridescence really could give the finish required to mimic fish scales.
Once the sheets were foiled and die cut, Llyod began the painstaking process of manually attaching each piece to the paper skeleton. Given the sheer scale and intricacy of the piece this stage took over 40 days to complete and was done entirely by hand using only drawings and sketches for guidance.
Upon completion of the sculptures, the pieces were attached to stainless steel rods in order to raise them up. The fish are arranged in a composition that resembles a dance through the water, which the pearlescent papers flowing seamlessly through the piece and living up to it’s fluid title, FLUX.
Watch the video of Lisa Llyod and Barnard & Westwood talking about FLUX: here.
