Cutting Shapes

Cutting Shape s

Paper is artist Magda Ksiezak’s medium, and she’s using it to celebrate the Melbourne summer.

It’s happening, and the anticipation is building. The air is warm, the sky is blue, the bars and restaurants are overflowing, and the city’s calendar is filling with fun events. Summer is here and it’s time to celebrate, both a season of doing what we love best and Melbourne’s incredible creatives – the people who give this great city its unique quality. So, we’ve called in the big art guns to create a paper-based party for the cover of this edition!

Having studied photography in Canberra, Magda Ksiezak moved to Melbourne in 2005 and expanded her skills at RMIT. Now she creates incredible, brightly coloured paper craft to create vibrant, playful images.

“There’s an element of magic in it, and that’s when the tangible collides with illustration and design,”

says Magda. “Is it computer generated? Is it real? Well, it’s a bit of both and it involves a lengthy process, which for me makes it interesting.”

Others also find its possibilities interesting, and Magda has collaborated with brands like Pizza Hut and Dulux, as well as Melbourne institutions, including Triple R, the Melbourne Museum and AFL Kids.

For this summer's front cover, she wanted to capture the sense of anticipation the arrival of the season brings. “It’s something we’re all

Magda Ksiezak Cover art in progress

experiencing at the moment and it’s really worth celebrating,” she says. “It wasn’t until I sat down with Matt Convery, a senior designer at Visit Victoria, and we spoke about the intention that things fell into place. A party popper with elements exploding from it instantly clicked. Some of the best ideas aren’t overthought.”

The elements represent the best of Melbourne in summer: food, music, shopping, tennis, art, theatre and even penguins. Each is created as a paper object, strung up in front of a background to create a threedimensional scene that’s then photographed.

“It’s problem solving and trying something that might not work without a control Z,”

says Magda. “It’s trial and error and experience. It still fascinates me that, as much I can imagine the outcome in my mind, there’s always a sense of excitement and joy when it comes together, and I can see the final image. That, for me, is magic.” As for Magda, she’s definitely got days of sunshine on her mind as summer days arrive: “I’m looking forward to enjoying spontaneous adventures with friends, getting some sand under my toes, and getting back into the city and absorbing Melbourne’s energy. I’ve really missed that.”

+hellomagda.com +visitvictoria.com