Artist opens exhibit of papercut work: A cut above the rest, Clements rocks paper, scissors (PHOTOS)

Artist Heather Clements has opened a new era of her work, moving first from portraiture to surreal visions of human/octopus hybrids, and now entering a dreamlike period of elaborate paper cut art exploring how humans interface with nature.

“The nature of the medium calls for intricacy,” she said during a recent conversation in her home studio off Bonita Avenue in Panama City. “The theme relates to ‘ecocide,’ the destruction of the environment — humans interacting with nature, sometimes destroying nature or creating symbiotic relationships with nature.”

The work will be featured in “I Cut Paper,” an exhibit that opened Dec. 30 at Studio b. in Alys Beach.

In addition to art displays, Studio b. offers seminars, classes and inspirational lectures in a state-of-the-art learning environment. Recent events at the studio included a class in building a bamboo bicycle and a concert by Courtyard Hounds (a group including two founding members of the Dixie Chicks).

“I’ve been showing there since it opened, and I have taught figure drawing there for a few years,” Clements said, so it was a good fit for her to showcase her recent work.

“I Cut Paper” will hang through Jan.31, allowing viewers to study Clements’ images of people and nature melding through the empty spaces between the cuts: Roots and the veins of leaves form bodies or faces; a woman dances in the air, suspended by intricate tendrils of ivy; a girl scouts through the wilderness for butterflies and flowers to add to her skirt.

Clements grew up making art in Northern Virginia, and in 2007 earned a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at the Maryland Institute College of Art. After school, she traveled with friends and ended up visiting a town she’d never heard of before — Panama City — where her work was shown at The Gallery Above. She soon took over the gallery, hosting music events, film nights, open mic events, swing dances and more, as well as themed art exhibits.

After two years, the economy forced her to close the doors. She next became exhibitions manager and graphic designer at the Visual Arts Center of Northwest Florida before leaving to focus fulltime on her art. Clements now teaches art classes at various venues and concentrates on making art in her home studio.

Clements has explored using the paper-cut technique for more than “flat” pieces of art. She created a “super villain” costume out of cut paper for Halloween this year, and she will be marketing some of her paper-cut jewelry during her show at Studio b.

“I don’t care for most jewelry at all,” she said. “I had an opening I was going to, and I only have about three pieces of jewelry, so I made a leaf necklace. It’s so white, bright and pristine, and because of the transparency of the cuts you can see skin through the piece. It’s very elegant looking.”

Clements started doing papercut work after the VAC commissioned her to create 300 paper flowers for a show.

“I worked fulltime on them for a couple of weeks, and thought I’d be totally sick of working with paper by that time,” she said. “It’s a different medium, but also a different concept. I’m still excited about doing them.”