Everyone is welcome to a gallery open house and artist reception for Warroad RiverPlace’s newest exhibit, Portrayals in Paper: Tales of Overcoming, by recognized paper-quilling artist Nikki Besser (Mizpah, MN).
Visitors are invited to browse the artwork, meet Nikki, and socialize over light refreshments at this free event.
Concert to Follow: Please note: A concert by vocal duo Aria Nouveau, presented by the Northern Lights Concert Association, will follow at 7:30 PM. Learn more>
The Exhibit: Step into a realm where paper becomes legend, and stories of resilience rise in three dimensions. Portrayals in Paper: Tales of Overcoming unveils an exhibition of large-scale, intricate paper artworks, where meticulous craft intertwines with the fantastical. Each piece centers on a human figure, joined by birds and animals, conjuring narratives of challenge, triumph, and transformation in all their own unique and fascinating stories. Learn more>
MEET THE ARTIST | NIKKI BESSER
Nikki Besser is self-taught, multifaceted artist from northern Minnesota, in the small town of Mizpah. Her creative journey spans oil and acrylic painting, soft pastels, airbrushing, paper, and mixed craft-based techniques. With no formal training to guide her, she has built her practice through instinct, curiosity, and an unrelenting pull toward the arts that began in her early teen years. Her path has always been one of exploration—moving through mediums in search of the one that felt like home.
She found it in paper quilling. Drawn by its vibrancy, versatility, and dimensionality, with qualities unlike any other medium, Nikki discovered a form of expression that allowed her imagination to unfold in extraordinary ways. Over countless hours, she has honed her craft, shaping delicate strips of paper into intricate, sculptural worlds that blur the boundary between the real and the surreal.
Today, her work reflects a fusion of technical mastery and imaginative storytelling, transforming delicate strips of paper into immersive scenes filled with character, emotion, and symbolic depth. Through her dedication and experimentation, Nikki continues to expand the possibilities of paper quilling, using it as a vessel to create intricate narratives that invite viewers into worlds both fantastical and deeply human. Her work increasingly ventures into realms of myth, magic, and dreamlike symbolism—fantastical landscapes and archetypal figures rendered with breathtaking detail. Yet within these scenes lives something familiar, something recognizable: the timeless struggle, triumph, and wonder of being human.
She describes her practice as storytelling on a cosmic scale: revealing hidden wonders through form, color, and delicately quilled dimension. Her commitment to the medium is fueled by a passionate pursuit, to touch the heart of humanity through art, and to offer portals into worlds where the extraordinary feels possible, alive, and within reach. Nikki hopes viewers step into her work with a sense of awe, curiosity, and openness. She aims to awaken something dormant in the mind and heart—an inner stirring that reconnects us with imagination, mystery, and the stories we often forget we carry.