Crossing Arts Alliance Showcasing Artist Nikki Besser’s Work in Brainerd

“Portrayals in Paper: Tales of Overcoming,” an exhibit featuring the paper quilling of artist Nikki Besser, is now on display at the Crossing Arts Alliance in Brainerd.

“My favorite part is that it is something that many people haven’t quite seen before,” Besser said. “It’s a new craft form. If they have seen it, not to this scale, which is—you know, as an artist, I couldn’t be happier to have brought a completely different experience to the gallery.”

Besser, a Mizpah, Minnesota native, curated her exhibit with the intention of creating detailed scenes that tell stories of human resilience.

“I still want them to be encouraging and uplifting,” Besser stated. “I try to keep all my work light and loving still, even with some of the real aspects of human resilience. They speak a little heavier.”

Each individual piece of art from “Portrayals in Paper” is part of one, all-encompassing, visual journey reflecting the challenges and victories people endure. It’s a concept both Besser and the Crossing Arts Alliance saw visitors at the exhibit relating to.

“We certainly never had paper quilling like this, as long as I’ve been around,” said Crossing Arts Alliance Executive Director Jennifer Jacquot-DeVries. “To walk around, and share with people, it’s wild. It’s like many pieces of art. You look at it, and you notice more details.”

“Any opportunity to bring people together in a way of just being seen—I’m grateful that they see the significance in the storytelling of it and the emotion of it,” Besser added.

While Besser looks to capture spectators’ attention with her vibrant and bold artistic style, her direction primarily concerns her various mediums all reflecting realism. That all falls in line with the Crossing Arts Alliance’s mission to cultivate community connections through education, as well as exposure to and experiences with the arts.

“These are divided, complicated times we live in right now, but art can be a jumping point and a starting point for all kinds of really important conversations,” Jacquot-DeVries said. “Your art education begins somewhere, and we’d like to think that we’re that point of connection and that point of jumping off, that point of crossing the bridge for everyone in our community.”

Besser is working on a collection of riddles and poems to offer clues into what the stories are behind her pieces. Her exhibit at the Crossing Arts Alliance is open to the public through July 5th.