Each piece begins as something found and embodies texture and color, then reassembled into a single moment.
That moment doesn't return. Neither does the piece. Unrepeatable by circumstance, not just by intent.
Stacey Ballard
Explore the Gallery
This piece is part of my Fingerprints series, where each artwork represents a life—uniquely woven from countless experiences. Life is not simply good or bad, black or white, but a vibrant tapestry of color, beauty, trauma, joy, and grief. We are shaped not by a single moment, but by the rich layering of our experiences, each adding depth to our story.
Every piece in this series is meticulously crafted from small, hand-cut strips of paper, layered to create a rich, textured composition. Just as no two fingerprints are alike, no two lives are the same—each one a masterpiece of resilience and beauty.
Joy: Portrait Series
This sculptural head is covered from crown to neck in thousands of tiny diamond painting drills, set so closely together that the surface shimmers like a mosaic. Colors flow across it in bands and swirls: reds and pinks along the face, purples around the cheek, greens and yellows across the crown, and cool blues down the neck. Nothing stops abruptly. One hue melts into the next, so the whole head feels like it is in motion.
Larger faceted gems are set into the surface as flowers in gold, cobalt, ruby, blush pink, lavender, and emerald, with green leaf shapes tucked around them. Round white cabochons ringed with sparkling crystals sit here and there like pearls or blossoms catching the light. The square base continues the garden, a carpet of bright green leaves and jeweled flowers that the figure seems to grow from.
This piece belongs to my “Portrait” series, and it is about pure joy. Rather than painting a face, it shows the feeling itself: color, flowers, and movement blending together until you can’t tell where one ends and the next begins. It is meant to lift your mood, and to be turned slowly so every side offers a new burst of color.
Meditative Circles
This square panel is made with ink on a soft, malleable surface of papery fibers that were pressed and shaped into a field of circles. The circles overlap and fade into one another, and their rims are raised and gently textured, like impressions left in snow or ripples caught in stillness.
The palette is simple: creamy white and deep indigo. Around the edges the ink pools dark and heavy, bleeding into the fibers with feathery edges. Toward the center, the color thins out into pale blue and white, so the eye is drawn inward to a quiet, open space.
This piece is for the times when your brain needs to rest or you need some quiet time. The calming circles and simple colors give the eye somewhere to settle, and the repeating shapes invite slow breathing and a slower mind. It is meant to be looked at for a while, and then to leave you feeling a little lighter.
Method: Ink
Quality: Malleable
Mood: Meditative