The complexity of paper
- Annie makes delicate and intricate paper art
- The lace-like pieces layer abstract and familiar images in a dense artwork
- She uses her practice in a therapeutic way to process current events
Annie Vought has always been drawn to paper, and especially the art of collage. After studying painting in college, she returned to paper for fun, eventually experimenting with an X-Acto blade for the first time. Suddenly, play shifted to something more focused and deliberate as she realised this medium spoke to her sensibilities. Annie’s first body of work depicted intricate texts culled from handwritten letters, scribbled notes and word fragments and phrases. After enlarging, transferring and reworking the written forms on bigger paper, she cut away the negative spaces, leaving a beautifully lacy tangle of text and forms. Today, Annie’s practice involves layering recognisable images within abstract compositions. “It becomes more personal, allowing me to focus on my internal landscape versus external perfection,” she says.
INTERVIEW
My older, more obsessive work took months to complete. The slowest part of the process, then and now, is developing the concept and composition. Once I start cutting, it is surprising how quickly it proceeds.
Following the pandemic and becoming a mother, my work processes the role of friend, neighbour, wife and parent. It looks at what it means to be living amidst contradictions of worry, beauty, guilt, tenderness, overwhelm and fear in a world that feels shaky and unpredictable.
My light-filled studio in Santa Fe faces a lively area that is often filled with music and activity, so I act as quiet observer, half-spy. Other days, it is silent. Time alone feeds and steadies me, helping to transmute the chaos of life into rhythm and art.
I want to make pieces that feel alive, rather than chasing perfection or beauty. I try to be honest, make sense of things and transform flashes of joy into a visual, tactile form. My hope is to experiment more, to tell fuller stories and to be surprised.
