Eskay (Steven Kroiss) never saw paper as a simple material. For him, it's a living skin that, when cut and layered, can be transformed into something entirely new: a breathing dome, a blossoming wall, a leaf reminiscent of a cathedral.

Based in Illinois, he combines drawing, painting, and paper sculpture to explore the connection between what we build and what nature teaches us. His process is slow, almost meditative: each layer is a discovery, each line a personal quest.

The result is pieces that invite us to pause and look with different eyes. In front of them, the monumental and the fragile meet, and one discovers that the geometry that sustains churches also lives in the branches of trees or the thorn of a leaf. This certainty that everything is united by a common pattern is what Eskay shares with those who approach his work.

“I build things out of paper. But what I’m really building are bridges—bridges between the grand, geometric designs of sacred architecture and the complex patterns of the natural world. My work is a journey to find the shared thread that runs through a cathedral’s rose window, the fractal veins of a leaf, and the perfect symmetry of a flower.

My process is one of slow, meditative layering. Whether I’m studying a centuries-old temple ceiling or the anatomy of a passion flower, I first deconstruct it into two-dimensional slices. By stacking these dozens. hundreds. or thousands of layers, I rebuild the object in three dimensions. In my work, shadow and structure become the primary colors; the way light falls across the layers is as important as the lines I cut.

Each piece is a personal challenge to understand a complex system and to create something that feels both ancient and entirely new. I invite you to look closely, to let your eyes trace the patterns and explore the depths. My hope is that you find a moment of quiet contemplation in the intricate geometries that connect everything around us.”