The Artist Honoring Black Experience, One Sheet of Paper at a Time

Janelle Washington working in her Richmond, Virginia studio, and Wild Weed, 2021, Cut Paper with Tissue Paper infills, Framed: 22 x 18 x 0.25 in. Image courtesy of the artist.

“Discovering paper as a medium gave me creative freedom.”

In Featured Artist Janelle Washington’s hands, a humble sheet of paper comes alive as a medium of storytelling, symbolism, and personal meaning.

A former children's wear designer, Janelle discovered paper cutting during a company show-and-tell and hasn't looked back. Her fashion training taught her to build visual narratives from research and history, which she now uses to unearth stories through her intricate art.

Seemingly simple in its materials but often dizzyingly complex its execution, she has turned her paper cutting art into her way of honoring Black culture, expression, and courage.

For Janelle, paper cutting has become a way to “honor untold stories and overlooked histories, transforming a simple material into a vessel for memory and meaning.”

Want to know how Janelle Washington discovered her love of paper cutting, and how she has turned it into a potent art form that showcases African American history and resilience? Read on to find out, explore her full portfolio on our Discovery page, and learn about the art business tools she uses to keep her career growing and thriving.

Janelle Washington, Solitary, c. 2023, Cut Paper with Gold Leaf, 54 x 30 in, Transport, c. 2023, Cut Paper with Gold Leaf, 54 x 30 in, and High Alert, c. 2023, Cut Paper with Gold Leaf, 54 x 30 in​.

How Janelle Found Her Artistic Medium

As Janelle was growing up in Virginia, she knew she was creative. So after getting a Fashion Design degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, she worked as a children’s wear designer for a dozen years.

She loved applying her careful eye to fashion, combining color and outline to create interesting patterns for clothing. But during a company show-and-tell presentation, she learned about paper cutting as an art form and immediately wanted to dive into this intricate way of making images.

Today she creates her artworks in Richmond, Virginia, where she lives, and she’s been the recipient of major commissions and has even become a children’s book illustrator. But she still draws meaning and structure from her years in fashion.

“My training in fashion design taught me to build concepts from research, history, and visual storytelling,” she tells Artwork Archive. “That foundation deeply influences my work today.”

Janelle Washington, Young Adult, 2018, Painted paper cut art with colored paper inserts, Framed: 17 x 11 in, and Mother and Daughter, c. 2018, Cut Paper with Tissue Paper infills, Framed: 17 x 11 in.

How Janelle Explores Black Resilience Through Her Art

When Janelle found paper as her medium, it gave her the creative freedom she was longing for.

“It allowed me to step away from trend-driven design and focus on storytelling, symbolism, and meaning—elements that feel essential to my artistic voice,” she explains.

Part of what attracted her to paper was how it’s been used both as an art material and as something that people have used in their everyday lives for generations.

“Paper holds deep meaning for me—historically; it represents both limitation and liberation,” she tells Artwork Archive.

“For many Black people, paper has symbolized access to education, documentation, and self-expression,” she shares. “Building on this history, in my work, it becomes a way to honor untold stories and overlooked histories, transforming a simple material into a vessel for memory and meaning.”

In this way, her work is both a celebration of Black identity, and her own contribution to this long history of creativity, ingenuity, and self-creation.

Janelle Washington, Commonwealth, c. 2021, Cut Paper with Tissue Paper infills, Framed: 10 x 21 x 2 in​

How Janelle Creates Stunning Images Out of a Simple Sheet of Paper

Because so much history, experience, and research goes into Janelle’s pieces, she usually has a pretty good idea of how she wants a work to look by the time she starts cutting. But a lot of preparation has to happen before the first slice is made.

“My creative process begins with inspiration from something I’ve read, watched, or learned,” she shares. “I research and define a central theme, then sketch and gather references.”

Once her overall concept is clear, she scans her drawings int a vector program and refines them so that they work together the way she envisions, shifting scale to match.

After printing the final design, she is ready to cut. “Many people are surprised to learn that all my work is hand-cut,” she reveals. There’s no digital cutting or automation involved when it comes to rendering her vision in paper.

“I work with positive and negative space, silhouette, and Adinkra symbols”—symbols rife with meaning that have been used by the Akan people of Ghana for several centuries. She cuts her main image from black Fabriano Tiziano paper, and often embellishes with “thread, gold leaf, painted backgrounds, and tissue paper infills to reflect the shades of melanin and add a contemporary perspective to my paper-cut designs.”

But the cutting itself, when she creates highly detailed silhouettes out of a simple sheet of paper, is what keeps drawing her back to this art form: “Cutting is my favorite stage—meditative, physical, and where the artwork comes to life.”

Janelle Washington, Sisters, c. 2018, Painted paper cut art with colored paper inserts, Framed: 11 x 17 in.

Why Janelle Uses Artwork Archive to Run Her Art Business

Janelle’s work is now in the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington, DC; Oprah magazine commissioned her to create a portrait of Breonna Taylor; and her work as illustrator for the children’s book Choosing Brave has won multiple awards. But early in her career, she had to learn how to be a working artist just like everyone else.

“Learning financial management was difficult,” she admits. She took business classes to fill in the gaps in her knowledge, and slowly built up personal systems that help keep her business growing sustainably.

Another pain point was finding a way to track all the artworks she was creating, and all the opportunities she wanted to participate in.

“As exhibition opportunities grew, I needed a way to organize my art and respond to requests quickly,” she recalls. She needed to know which pieces were in her inventory, which were already committed to shows in the future, and which had been sold.

She looked around for a digital inventory management system that could meet all these needs, and stumbled upon one that she has stuck with to this day: “Artwork Archive helped streamline my management as my career progressed.”

She can create piece records as soon as she finishes an artwork, and upload high-quality images that automatically populate to her public profile. She can add detailed notes to each piece, to describe her thinking behind its creation and the themes she is drawing out through the work. She can create custom collections to showcase an individual body of work, or a successful exhibition.

Best of all are all the documents she can create to support her growing career.

“I love the reporting tools,” she tells Artwork Archive. “I use them to create tear sheets, catalog pages, and artwork labels, and to share professional documentation with galleries and clients through downloadable links. It’s become an essential part of my studio practice.”

Janelle's Advice for Finding Your Unique Artistic Voice

Looking back on the years of experimentation, there’s one moment that stands out for Janelle when everything started to click for her career: “Letting go of the need to create work for validation was transformative.”

“Once I focused on making art that felt true to me, I began attracting opportunities that aligned with my values and vision,” she remembers. “Trusting my voice allowed my career to grow more authentically.”

There are deep sources feeding Janelle’s art, from her desire to honor Black experiences, to themes of family and female identity that are close to her heart. When she allowed those impulses guide what she created, she found it easier, more fun, and much more rewarding to make her work.

If you feel like you have similar passions that are driving your practice, but you haven’t quite found the best way of expressing them, don’t worry. Janelle says it simply: “Be patient with yourself.”

“You don’t need to have everything figured out right away,” she urges. “Trust your instincts, stay consistent, and allow yourself time to grow into your identity as an artist.”

But most importantly, trust yourself, and invest in your art career so that you can be proud of the work you create: “Don’t be afraid to claim the title—calling yourself an artist is part of becoming one.”

Janelle Washington, Golden Blossoms, c. 2023, Cut Paper with Tissue Paper and Gold Leaf, Framed: 25 x 35 x 3 in, and Oranges and Boom, 2021, Cut Paper with Tissue Paper infills, Framed: 14 x 14 in​.

No matter where you are in your art journey, getting your business side in order doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. A bit of structure now can mean more time and headspace for the work you actually want to be doing.

Artwork Archive helps artists build an online portfolio, stay on top of their inventory, and create things like tear sheets and invoices in just a few clicks. Start a free trial and see how it fits into your own process.