Nikitha Yelchuru

Nikitha Yelchuru is San Jose-based artist who crafts jewelry and sculptural objects through a unique technique called quilling—rolling, shaping, and gluing strips of paper into decorative designs. Each of her works begins as an observational sketch, inspired by her everyday life and the natural world. Using these sketches as a jumping off point, she quills paper objects by making intuitive associations and finding formal parallels. Her delicate hand-made pieces bear witness to her commitment to excellent craftsmanship.

Yelchuru fell in love with the ancient art of quilling in 2012. She began by designing jewelry solely for herself. However, her friends and family were quick to notice her talent, and she started receiving commissions for custom-made pieces. When she realized the magnitude of the demand for her work, she decided to quill earrings, necklaces, wall-art and sculptural objects full time. Since 2016, the artist has crafted custom-made pieces on commissions under the name Paper Sweetly.

Yelchuru’s background in engineering, coupled with her artistic sensibility, give her a keen eye for the geometer of nature. She notices the underlining structure of everything from the chambered nautilus shell to the articulated shape of a hummingbirds outstretched wings. She uses the character, shape, and color she sees to articulate the poetic meaning in everyday life and translate positive energy into spontaneously constructed forms. She continually hones her skills and creates new designs inspired by the world around her.