From her sunny studio in Southern California, artist Lucie Galvin diarizes real-world landscapes and domestic scenes using paper.
Lucie’s signature Paper Pictures discard traditional paint and ink. She manipulates a luminous palette of upcycled paper scraps and plant-based fine papers. Cutting, tearing, and stacking these materials, Lucie creates approachable bas-relief form of stylized shapes and rich textures. Myriad, but carefully selected, decorative patterns and saturated colors collide to create thrilling visual tensions and deep, multi-layered dimensions. Every papier collé and collage balances clear, bold graphics with charming details - including upcycled wrinkles - inviting viewers to slow down, lean in, and explore their vibrant worlds.
Lucie’s artwork is deeply informed by both the clean lines, horizons, and rhythmic structures of coastal life and the contained organic asymmetry of gardening. By assembling her concepts across interconnected panels she captures the expansive feeling of the outdoors while maintaining a disciplined geometric harmony. The magic of her work is fully realized when it meets changing light; translucent mylar captures a subtle glow, while the raised edges of the paper cast delicate shadows that shift with the hours. The result is a visyally tactile body of work that feels simultaneously grounding and airy - a celebration of patient craftsmanship that transforms humble materials into sophisticated large-scale modern art.
Bringing their comforting biophilic and sustainable sensibility to walls, original paper plant materials include: Bamboo, banana, cacao, camellia, coffee, corn, cotton, cucumber, daphne, ficus, flax, gampi, hemp/jute, indigos, mango, mitsumata, mulberry, nettle, oak, onion, papyrus, pear, pine, rice, sandalwood, snake plant, sugarcane, and anonymous hard and softwoods in upcycled calendars, candy wrappers, cardboards, card stock, cellophane, construction paper, cup sleeves, flyers, gift wrap, greeting cards, guides, kraft, leaf bags, maps, menus, parchment, pastry boxes, placemats, playbills, receipts, ribbons, shopping bags, tickets, to-go containers, and vellum. Most cultivated or wild-found, harvested, stripped, bashed, pulped, mixed, repeatedly dried, and then crinkled, dyed, embossed, foiled, gilt, glittered, hand-painted, lacquered, laminated, marbled, printed, stamped, sun-washed, or left natural by many, many other artists around the world. Some gathered, torn, soaked, bashed, blended, and dried by Lucie. All gleaming with warmth and texture IRL.
To preserve their papers' original character these pictures are unvarnished nor treated with other topical coats or fixatives. Offcuts are saved for future pictures or composted to nurture Nature. Behind the scenes butcher paper supports, glassine paper separates, and rice and other glues bind.
BIOGRAPHY
Lucie Galvin studied art history at The University of Michigan (Laguna Art Museum, Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, and Phillips Fine Arts Auctioneers London); education at St. Mary's College California; garden design at The English Gardening School, London; craftsman gardening with The National Trust for Scotland (Threave and Kellie Castle); and illustration with The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. She teaches and practices sustainable gardening and crafts.
PRESS
Studio Visit Magazine, Volume 55 (Upcoming: 2026-27)
Cultivating Goodness - The Talent of Lucie Galvin, Tableau Magazine, March/April 2021