It’s not often that you meet professionals, who’ve entirely changed their tracks to take up what they feel passionate about. Raya Sader Bujana is one such exception. This qualified architect was so fascinated by paper sculpting to take it up full time. Today, she’s an established paper artist who’s immensely popular on the social media and enjoys a fan following of over 11,000 fans on Instagram alone.
This Lebanese-Venezuelan paper artist, currently based in Barcelona, Spain, had an artistic streak in her since childhood. According to her, her parents would buy her a stack of 12 sketchbooks that she meticulously completed, one sketchbook a month. So, it was natural for her to take up something that satiated her artistic desire…and studying architecture was a natural choice.
Raya studied architecture in Universidad Central de Venezuela (Central University of Venezuela), Caracas, Venezuela. However, her artistic side never left her and she started experimenting with paper art while studying. Making architecture models helped her in paper art sculpting.
After graduating, she moved to Barcelona, Spain, and continued her studies by enrolling in Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain, for a three-year course. However, she dropped out in favor of pursuing her passion for paper art and design.
In an interview with flowmagazine.com, Raya tells about her paper art techniques, “I have a very organic approach to paper art. I try to treat the paper as more of a sculptural material, and (I) like molding, shaping, curving, and layering. Cutting, texture and volume are also very important to me.”
Although artistic by nature, paper art didn’t come naturally to her. She arrived where she is today by practice, experimenting, and trial and error. She sells her paper art for a living and has created stop-motion videos, commissioned pieces, and worked with brands like Camper and DOIY. She’s currently working on new exhibitions for her artwork.
Raya Sader Bujana: Instagram | Etsy Shop