Yolanda Ward is an award-winning artist specializing in mixed-media, hand-made paper collages. Her work echo’s themes drawn from Black History and culture. Viewed from a distance, her images appear to be paintings. However, upon closer inspection, they are actually “painted” with tiny piece of paper in a laborious process that starts with the making of some handmade papers itself.
Prior to embracing collage, Ward served as art and creative director of a Fortune 500 Company where she traveled widely and worked with major museums worldwide. After studying at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia College of Art, Ward attended papermaking workshops at Abington Art Center and attended Arcadia University in Philadelphia. Later, she studied with a master paper maker in Umbria, Italy. Now Ward makes some of her own paper which she combines with vintage papers from all over the world to form the foundation for her images. She then adds other mediums and techniques, including inks, acrylic paint, printmaking, hand tearing and layering the paper to form visually stunning, highly textured images.
The art of Yolanda Ward has appeared in juried exhibitions and received her most recent award at Woodmere Art Museum, Abington Art Center’s Paper Arts Award, the Black Music City Grant in Philadelphia, as well as sold-out, regional, shows.
