Noel Van Wagner — Original Paper Collage Art, Los Angeles

Original paper collage

Dancing Ladies & Cosmic Queens

Each piece is a hand-crafted original and framed.

Nicolette — a figure in a black corset gown with a green marbled skirt — Nicolette Sold — available as a reproduction

Dancing Ladies

Cha Cha

22 × 34 in, framed
Nepalese Lokta paper, ink & rhinestones on watercolor

$1,500
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Tatiana

22 × 34 in, framed
Lokta & specialty papers, ink & rhinestones on watercolor

$1,200
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Luna

22 × 34 in, framed
Lokta & chrome paper, ink & rhinestone on watercolor

The paper ripples slightly above the moon, where the glue drew it in as it dried — a mark of the handmade process

$800
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Martine

18 × 24 in, framed
Specialty papers, ink & rhinestones on watercolor

$800
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Dima

22 × 34 in, framed

One corner tore a little further than I meant — part of her one-of-a-kind character

$800
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Cosmic Queens

Nobi

18 × 24 in, framed
Paint marker, chrome & specialty papers on black watercolor

$800
Inquire

Agni, in motion

She catches the light as you pass

In person, the paint marker and vellum flicker against the black paper when you move past her. Here's a glimpse of it.

In the room

A couple of them, placed

These two are AI-generated mockups — a way to picture a piece on your wall. The art itself is all handmade.

Cha Cha framed on a dressing-room wall — **Cha Cha** — in a dressing room

Agni framed above a mid-century console — **Agni** — above a mid-century console

Commissions

Want one of your own?

Some of my favorite pieces began as gifts — a Dancing Lady made with one person in mind. If you'd like your own, or a reproduction of a piece that's already sold, I take commissions. Tell me what you're picturing and we'll go from there.

Start a commission

A commissioned figure in a black gown with a green skirt — Private commission

A figure in a patterned dress with a trailing scarf, made as a gift — Made as a gift

A seated figure with a marbled drape, made as a gift — Made as a gift

Artist statement

Why paper

On stage I was Bo Toxique — a name Allergan's lawyers once asked me to retire. I declined.

What I missed most when I left the stage was the creation process: the smell of the glue, the feel of the fabrics, the hours spent setting thousands of rhinestones by hand.

My papers helped me recreate that sensation. When I would start a new costume, I would take a fashion template and draw out my ideas before implementing them in three dimensions. Now I take that same habit and build each figure from layered handmade papers. Among these are Lokta, marbled and chrome specialty styles, with ink line, and just the right amount of dimension to capture each tableau.

I can't deny that I miss the primal sensation of being onstage: the nerves, the blinding lights, the hope that everything will go as planned, the plan when things don't go as planned, and of course the reveal.

So I make my Dancing Ladies — each one a tableau I get to freeze at the exact moment the audience roars.

Everything about my act was tight: the costume, the choreography, the placement. So I always worked in a little "wink" to keep it human. The torn edges are my wink on paper.

Bo Toxique, on stage Bo Toxique in a candy-stripe ringmaster costume

Earlier work

Further back

I didn't start two weeks ago. A few older pieces — circus collage on newsprint, and cut-paper portraits — from an earlier chapter.

Circus tent collage on newsprint — Circus tent · paper & newsprint

Circus menagerie collage — Menagerie · paper & newsprint

Cut-paper portrait of a woman in a fur hat — Portrait · cut paper

Cut-paper portrait over newspaper — Portrait · cut paper

Acquire a piece

Take one home

Every piece is an original — one of a kind, framed, and ready to hang. To purchase or ask about anything you've seen, email me directly. I'm in Los Angeles; shipping can be arranged.

botoxique@gmail.com