Some museum patrons find it hard to suspend their disbelief when they see world-renowned masterpieces in person after only viewing reproductions beforehand. Peruvian miniature artist Ana Sofía Casaverde shared similar sentiments last May when she saw “Woman with a parasol – Madame Monet and her son(1875) for the first time in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. What made Casaverde’s experience stand out was that she had brought her own postage stamp-sized replica of the painting – a feat as impressive as the original work itself, given that she painted it using the head of a needle.
At less than a square inch, Casaverde’s own rendering of the Monet was both a challenge and a labor of passion. Before embarking on his miniature replicas, Casaverde studies the practices and influences of artists to better understand their message. “I challenge myself to see how much of this I can convey in tiny drops while trying to maintain the essence of the original painting,” the artist said. Hyperallergic. “When I start painting, I become so focused that everything around me seems to disappear.”
Right: Ana Sofía Casaverde, “La Pequeña Mujer con Sombrilla” (2021), painting on cardboard, 0.47 x 0.56 inches (photo by and courtesy of the artist)
The artist described the experience of uniting “La Pequeña Mujer con Sombrilla” (2021) with Monet’s original work as “one of the happiest moments of his life”. She said she smiled to herself when the museum guide talked about the details of Monet’s work, such as the implied wind moving the woman’s dress and the flecks of yellow paint to signify light in the Impressionist style.
“I had imagined all these details the day I made the miniature version, never thinking that at some point I would be there looking at the original, thanks to my work,” Casaverde continued, saying that she had traveled to New York to see the group exhibition. small is beautiful which included some of his miniatures before visiting DC.
She made about eight more painted replicas in her ongoing series of micro-masterpieces, starting with a few works by Vincent van Gogh that accompanied a folded paper sculpture by the Dutch artist.
“The series started when I did a miniature of Vincent Van Gogh and it occurred to me that he should have a mini-painting,” Casaverde explained. “It was the first time I made them, and that’s how ‘La Nochecita Estrellada’ (2021) was born.”
The artist was actually inspired by van Gogh’s ingenuity in her practice and cited him as an inspiration for her to use what she had on hand to make her own mini-paintings, so she started painting with needles. But Casaverde isn’t just a miniaturist, and she doesn’t just create replicas either.
The artist is skilled in bite-sized origami and paper-cut sculpture – both of which are evident in his ‘Littlest Flowershop’ (2022) exhibited at Small is beautiful. As an interior designer, Casaverde began with mock-ups of model furniture that got smaller and smaller.
“Being able to work with my hands and imagine objects at different scales fuels my curiosity and creativity,” Casaverde explained. “It’s very moving for me to see the final work, I think it’s beautiful how something so small can convey so much.”
