Angie Pickman merges the centuries-old tradition of Scherenschnitte with contemporary collage techniques to produce detailed paper compositions that celebrate the natural world. Scherenschnitte, a paper-cutting art form originating in 16th-century Switzerland and Germany, traditionally involved folding paper and cutting continuous designs similar to paper snowflakes. Working from her Lawrence, Kansas studio under the moniker “Rural Pearl,” Pickman discovered her artistic direction in 2003 after encountering Lotte Reiniger’s silhouette animation. Reiniger (1899-1981) pioneered silhouette animation and created the oldest surviving feature-length animated film, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, in 1926. This encounter proved transformative for Pickman, who had long sought her artistic medium, describing the moment as one where “something clicked”. Her creative process involves using a craft knife to hand-cut various papers, including charcoal drawing paper, art tissue, and recycled maps glazed with acrylics, which she then collages onto backing boards or wood panels.
Pickman’s artistic philosophy centers on simplicity and reduction, viewing paper cutting as metaphorical for “winnowing away at all the things that are not needed so the individual can be reduced to the rawest, purest being possible”. This approach manifests in compositions that draw heavily from her affection for nature and the tranquility of rural Kansas terrain. After receiving her master’s degree from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in 2004, she pursued her practice full-time, eventually returning to Kansas in 2009. Her dedication to the craft has garnered recognition through features in Martha Stewart Living and Midwest Living magazines, and her animation work premiered on PBS in 2016 in the documentary Daughters of the Forest. She has also won numerous awards, including an Independent Music Award for album art, and published her first children’s book, Merry Menagerie: Animal Antics from A to Z, in 2018.
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in Bahia.