The role saved Cristina Velasco Mora (Ourense, 39 years old) more than a decade ago. Specifically, the laborious and conscientious task of creating small figures with him. “When I discovered working with paper, I was in a fellow lawyer office, I was spending a very complicated stress time, I had dermatitis, I was forcing my body to be in a situation that I did not like. Arriving home, taking a piece of paper, putting a video and making the tutorial step by step until I get the final figure allowed me that for an hour my mind would not think about anything else. Cruz, ”he says. More than a decade after that discovery, this paper artisan has with his sister Beatriz a study in A Coruña called Anaquiños de Paper specialized in the discipline of the Paper Art, and life is made by making artistic pieces with this element as raw material. But it is no longer about making crafts, Galician claims the artistic side of her creations: “When you work with leather, with wicker, with ceramics … a vessel is art, a basket can be art. When you work with paper, the boundary between craft and art is super difficult. My goal during all these years has been to get people to see my works ask themselves. Do authentic works of art, ”he reflects. More information and what if he has succeeded. These days he has collaborated by creating several pieces that are part of the visual image of the new edition of Madrid Craft Week, an appointment that seeks to make artisan work visible and boost the creative talent of disciplines of all kinds of areas. The initiative concludes this Sunday, June 22 with The Craft Gallery, an ephemeral exhibition at the Santa Barbara Palace, whose balconies have been adorned with different floral creations of Velasco. «The flowers always make them on paper, but, in this case, being abroad, I have done them with rubber eva. I did not want to risk, in Galicia we always have a plan B for everything but here I was afraid. I had already done things with this material before, but I had to experiment with different techniques so that not all flowers were the same,» he says.
Unamuno paper bow.
When he entered this world back in 2013, he ran into a universe of possibilities. After becoming familiar with Origami – the art of creating figures folding paper, originated in China and popularized in Japan – through his sister Beatriz (who shared his designs in what was still only the Anaquiños de Paper blog), little by little he went from the simplest figurines to complex creations, such as lamps, large floral facilities and even bags. His designs soon attracted attention, and thanks to the exhibition achieved in social networks (his profile on Instagram has more than 26,000 followers) they got the first orders. Velasco left his job to bet on a trade, the artisan of paper, almost non -existent in Spain. «Miguel de Unamuno was one of those who popularized the paper figurines, has a book in this regard that is called notes for a Cocotology Treaty. Cocotte is what was called French to the bowels and it is the little that there is a reference in Spain to the topic of the origami. Now it is a little more common, the Nordic countries put it very fashionable, but people who dedicate themselves to doing that assures. The beginnings, says the creator, were not easy due to the uncertainty that generated her to leave her incipient career as a lawyer and bet on something in the antipodes of what can be considered a stable job – «People told me: 'Why don't you oppose? How are you going to dedicate yourself to that?» – But, almost without realizing it, he saw himself accepting a commission after another. Until the final result is achieved, the artist can invest a complete working day only in creating a flower: «One of 80 centimeters in diameter, with a stem and with foot, can take a whole day to do it, in the morning and in the afternoon. That is, eight hours. You have to cut the material, shape it, to line the size …», he details. Sometimes, however, even greater challenges are presented. Last April he received the commission of making several paper sculptures for the fashion firm Simorra. The pieces were placed on the catwalk during a brand parade at 080 Barcelona, as is known at the Fashion Week of the Catalan City. “It was the first time in my life that did something like that. They were six sculptures formed by some looms that I made myself with a donkey and with braided silk paper. They measured two meters high by 1.5 meters wide. It was an odyssey, but for me it was one of the most satisfactory works that I have done. I love flowers, they have given me everything, but from time to time to do something more artistic to make something more artistic to my brain. allowed sculpt with paper, ”he recalls about the experience.A simorra model parading between the paper sculptures created by Cristina Velasco Mora for the 080 catwalk in Barcelona.estrop (Getty Images) Each piece requires a different type of paper and, throughout these years, Velasco has learned to find the ideal option for each project. «There are many people who think that the paper is very cheap or that we work with folios, but it has an immense world. Each client asks you for one thing, once I play a role I know what it can serve me and why not,» he explains. Among its trust providers are the Spanish House Antalis and the historic Fedrigoni, founded in 1888 in Verona.
Cristina Velasco Mora with her flowers made of paper, this week in Madrid. Madrid Craft Weeken The few times outside her study, Velasco teaches workshops to all those interested in the art of paper, a public «mostly feminine, between about 30 to 65 years,» he details. The proof that things march well is that he is not looking for anything too different for his future and that of his company. Of course, they will soon implement a small change and rename the company with the name of Velasco Mora study: «It is a step of maturity, I know the artisans who I know I know them by name and surnames.» With a limited, exclusive and unique production (when working with the hands it is impossible to do two things the same), it ensures that its intention «is not to grow and hire», but continue to produce as it has done so far. «Any work of art begins with a piece of paper, of writing an article A when an architect makes a sketch of a building. The paper is the beginning of everything,» he defends.
