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Transcript/ScriptFOR USAGM SHARE
((PLAYBOOK SLUG: CONNECT Cut-Paper Artist TV
HEADLINE: Art in the Wild
TEASER: Artist finds inspiration in Alaska’s raw beauty
PUBLISHED AT: 01/10/2022
BYLINE: Gabrielle Weiss
CONTRIBUTORS:
DATELINE: Seldovia, Alaska
VIDEOGRAPHER: Gabrielle Weiss, Rafael de la Uz
PRODUCER: Gabrielle Weiss, Zdenko Novacki
COURTESIES:
SCRIPT EDITORS: EA
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:57
VID APPROVED BY: EA
TYPE: VPKGF
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((Eds: This is a self-narrated feature.))
((INTRO)) [[The art of paper cutting has developed around the world and adapt to different cultural environments. VOA’s Gabrielle Weiss spent some time with Valisa Higman, a papercutting artist from Seldovia, Alaska, to learn more about the inspiration she derives from the beauty surrounding her.]]
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Courtesy: Valisa Higman))
((Valisa Higman, Artist))
I started cutting paper when I was in high school. I just played around with it for years. And then I went to college, and I studied drawing. And in my third drawing class, I did a project where I ended up cutting the drawing out of black paper. And I brought it in to the professor and she was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is what you do. Like, you cut paper!’
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Valisa Higman, Artist))
I’m Valisa Higman and I’m a cut-paper artist in Seldovia, Alaska. We’re here at my studio. My dad and my grandfather built the house and the shop that I work in. It’s kind of designed to be a creative space. It was a different sort of creativity, but it feels really good for just inspiration and making things.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Valisa Higman, Artist))
I feel like Alaska is different than anywhere else. And having grown up here, I didn’t want anything more than to just get out. I decided I really just wanted to travel around the world and see everything and go everywhere and live somewhere with more people and more options.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Valisa Higman, Artist))
My seat’s too cold to sit on yet. The first year it was just like, everything was great, like there’s so many things to see and people to meet. But then by the second year, I started to realize that like people’s values were a lot different than mine. And so, I missed being in a place where like you have to think about things. You don’t just go buy things if they’re broken. You have to really think about what you need and what you just want.
((NATS))
((Valisa Higman, Artist))
Living off the highway system in rural Alaska, there’s less separation between outdoor life and indoor life. There’s definitely frustrations but it’s better to be frustrated than it is to be bored.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Valisa Higman, Artist))
I’m always looking for inspiration in the world around me. So, I like the way people interact with the environment. Having my niece and nephew here and watching them grow up, it’s been really fun.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Valisa Higman, Artist))
There you go.
((Katmai Higman, Nephew))
Okay, yeah. We got a lot.
((Valisa Higman, Artist))
Oh, it’s got a gunnel. Look. It’s a gunnel with eggs. Two gunnels. I want to share pretty things with people. Like I want to make beautiful things.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Valisa Higman, Artist))
Is that a skeleton shrimp? Woops. Now he’s gone.
((Valisa Higman, Artist))
I have all this beauty around me. I want to be able to send that out into the world and share that with people.
((NATS/MUSIC))
NetworkVOA
English TitleCONNECT Cut-Paper Artist TV
Brand / Language ServiceUS Agency for Global Media
