kirk fanelly

Using various colors, shapes and sizes, Charlotte’s Kirk Fanelly creates lively cut paper artworks that resemble paintings.

Artist: The North Carolina native was born and grew up in Charlotte. Always a good student, Fanelly was innately good at drawing and observing detail.

In college, he shifted from engineering to art and received a BA in Visual Art from Brown University.

Fanelly split his undergraduate time between Brown and neighboring Rhode Island School of Design, completing courses in its painting and illustration departments.

For nearly 20 years, Fanelly focused on narrative paintings before he shifted to cut paper pieces, which he liked better.

Studio: Based in Charlotte, Fanelly works out of a private studio space separate from his home.

Art & materials: Inlaid cut paper artworks. Prices start at $150 for a screen print.

Process:

Initially works out most of the composition as a digital drawing. He started out doing a painting study, but shifted to digital over time.
Archival cut papers are usually tinted with acrylic and/or flashe vinyl (a synthetic paint).
Paper pieces are scalpel cut, inlaid (forming one layer) and adhered to a wooden panel using reversible PVA glue.
An isolation coat is applied before the final protective matte UV varnish.

What’s popular: Sometimes, Botanicals. Other times, Animalia. What’s popular can be whimsical and fleeting, he said.

“If popularity determined my subject matter,” said Fanelly. “You’d be looking at a lot of dog portraits.”

Favorite tool: A blue acrylic scalpel handle with a Swann Morton surgical blade.

Inspirations: