Paper Mache Memories
Bia Petraru
In the silent ring of an exhibition room, Bia Petraru’s creations line up, vibrant, as if waiting for
the first glance to set them in motion. There are no curtains—just an explosion of color:
fantastical reds, sunlit yellows, irreverent blues. The artist—an architect of paper mache,
sparkle, and gesture—builds a whimsical universe where each piece radiates not just skill, but
a vital pulse.
Here, the circus is movement itself. Clown figures, full of childhood and longing, emerge from
textures and volume. Every ridge feels like a captured burst of laughter; every painted gaze
holds fragments of nostalgia and hope. Recycled paper, transformed by her hands into
dreamlike matter, proves that even the ordinary can rise again—with presence and dignity—
when reimagined through art.
Her clowns are not caricatures; they are personas. Their faces carry invented joy, quiet
melancholy, and wonder at the simplest things. They look at the viewer with the silent wisdom
of those who know the dance between laughter and mystery. With a degree in Industrial
Design from FAAP, Bia brings compositional precision that anchors the apparent spontaneity,
allowing the lightness of paper mache to carry undeniable sculptural presence.
Held together by an invisible thread, Bia Petraru’s circus celebrates the beauty of the everyday
without ever losing its refinement. The curve of paper, shaped by light and shadow, becomes
an intimate choreography between technique and emotion. Within the layered textures flow
feelings: joy ready to leap into the ring, tenderness in soft tones, surprise in the unexpected. It’s
art that is both spectacle and sanctuary.
To contemplate a piece by Bia is to take part in a show with no beginning or end, where her
circus extends into the gaze, into affection, into the memory of what’s been lived—and what is
still waiting to be imagined. With the mastery of someone who knows how to paint wonder
onto the humblest of materials, Bia Petraru reminds us that the show must go on—and that
perhaps true resistance lives in whatever makes us smile without haste.
Instagram: @biapetraru