Bianca Severijns is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores themes of displacement, belonging, protection, and renewal. Born in the Netherlands into a multicultural family, she has lived and travelled across several countries at different stages of her life. Her experiences of building a home in unfamiliar surroundings became an important foundation for her artistic practice.

Severijns works primarily with paper and is known for her distinctive hand-tearing technique. Using hand-painted, hand-torn, and carefully layered paper, she creates tactile reliefs through repetition and accumulation. Hundreds of small fragments with rough, irregular edges are assembled into sculptural tapestries, murals, reliefs, and three-dimensional objects. The torn edges evoke the imperfections and vulnerability of human life, while the act of bringing the individual pieces together suggests connection, reconstruction, and renewal.

Her earlier works explored the relationship between human displacement and natural cycles, including uprooting, nesting, and regeneration. In her signature series, Protective Blankets, Severijns reinterprets the idea of humanitarian first aid and reflects on fundamental human needs such as security, protection, acceptance, respect, and freedom.

Her recent works respond to periods of war and crisis, reflecting realities shaped by destruction, loss, and chaos. At the same time, they express hope for adaptation, unity, and renewal, drawing on parallels between nature and the human experience.

Severijns’ works have been exhibited internationally, including at the 2019 Venice Biennale, the Gustav-Lübcke Museum in Hamm, Germany, MUZA – Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv, the Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem, the Shanghai Paper Biennial, and the International Paper Biennial in Haacht, Belgium. Her works are held in private collections worldwide and in the collection of the Gustav-Lübcke Museum. She is a member of IAPMA, the International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists.