papercuts

About paper, art paper, paper cutting, papercuts and the papercut art
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Contents.   

1. About Papercuts
2. The papercut art as a craft for interior decorating has a long history in China.
3. The paper cut art as a craft for interior decoration
4. Instruments and material
5. The Chinese paper cutting process
6. About the preservation of paper cuts
7. Characteristics of the papercut art in China.
8. Traditional Themes of papercuts in China.
9. Bibliography
10. Aspects of the contemporary papercut art.
11. Gallery of Links to Contemporary paper Cutters

 

About Papercuts

Paper cutting finds its origin in CHINA sometime after the invention of paper around the years 100 BC. Paper cutting came as a natural extension of leather sheet cutting and silver or copper foil cutting. We know, from archeology excavations, that such art was already practiced during the 5th century BC.

As paper was highly precious in its early days, the paper cut art first became popular in the royal palaces and houses of nobility where it became a favorite pastime among court ladies. Later on paper cutting became immensely popular during folk festivals. By the 12-13th century and onward, paper cut art had become an integral part of all Chinese people's daily lives and by the 14th century the art had spread to the Middle East and Europe.

Paper cut art was used in interior decorating, as decoration items on walls as well as in windows. It was also used as patterns, especially for embroidery and lacquer work. There are two methods to realize a paper cut: scissor cutting and knife cutting. In scissor cuttings several sheets of rice-paper, up to seven, are layered together. The motif is then cut with sharp, pointed scissors. Knife cuttings are fashioned by putting several layers of rice-paper on a relatively soft foundation. The advantage of knife paper cutting is that considerably more cuttings can be made in one operation than with scissor cutting. 

Paper cutting used to be one of the arts and crafts that every girl had to master and brides were once judged on their paper cutting virtuosity. Nowadays, paper cuts are realized by professional artists, often men working together in workshops. Paper cuts were thus an important part of Chinese arts all along the last 2000 years of the far longer history of their civilization. 

History shows that along the last 6-700 years this craft has been closely associated to people's yearning for decorating all aspects of their daily lives. Paper cutting became popular because the practice is easy to master by anybody and the instruments and materials involved are simple and cheap and its uses in decoration remained thus popular. This is also why the craft has not fallen into oblivion along its more than 2000 years of history.

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The papercut art as a craft for interior decorating has a long history in China.

Proofs abound of the existence of a cutting technique well before the invention of paper. Leather cutting sheets have been unearthed in 1966 in HUBEI Province from a tomb dating from the Warring States Period. In 1952, a silver foil cutting from the same period has been unearthed from a site in HENAN Province (see picture 1).

Those discoveries are testimony that this art predated the invention of paper. But when exactly did the cutting technique originate remains largely a mystery.

China's early history is badly known, only by the end of the nineteen nineties were archeology studies being undertaken systematically. It is thus expected that our knowledge of the history of the early days of the Chinese civilization will progress rapidly and the origins of the paper cutting technique could then eventually be revealed.

Picture 1.  Silver

foil cutting dating 4th -5th century BC

History remembers Cai LUN as the inventor of paper. The cutting arts having been practiced well before the invention of paper, it is assumed that paper cutting started just after the invention of paper some 100 years before JC. The earliest paper cuts that have been found so far come from the Northern Dynasties Period (386-581 ad). They were unearthed near the city of Turpan in XINJIANG Province. The dry and hot weather conditions of that area are the reason of their very good preservation. (see pictures 2, 3, 4, 5)

Picture 2.

 

Picture 3

Picture 4

Picture 5

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The paper cut art as a craft for interior decoration

1.  Used in interior decorating: windows

The use of glass in windows is relatively recent. The tradition in China, as in Japan, was to glue thin rice-paper over the overtures of the windows during Spring Festival (Chinese New Year). Artists' paper cuts were then pasted on this rice-paper thus offering starkly contrasted pictures with the natural outdoor light. 

 

2.  Used in interior decorating: walls.

In North China, people like to paste papercuts on their walls and call them “wall flowers”. In South China, people prefer to paste them on pillars and lintels to avoid the high humidity of walls that is a deadly enemy of paper.

3.  Used in interior decorating: ceilings.

4.  Used as lantern decoration:

Lantern festival is a traditional Chinese festival taking place in the first month of the lunar calendar when various kinds of lanterns are on show. Pasted on the lanterns paper cut art figures look like slide shows under the lamplight. 

5.  Used in interior decorating: doors.

Pasted on the sides of doors, the designs represent auspicious welcoming words or patterns. 

 

6.  Other uses:

While the above mentioned interior decorating uses are by far the most popular ones, the artists' works are also sometimes used on wedding cloth, on presents, on shoes, on pillows, on cuffs and even, believe it or not, on under-garments.

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Instruments and materials

In Chinese papercutting the best quality paper for monochromatic paper cuts is the red dyed Xuanpaper, a red dyed rice-paper popular all over China. Multicolor ones are generally made out of various dyed Xuanpaper (rice-paper) or Fenlianpaper, a silk mounted Xuanpaper.


The instruments used in paper cut art are scissors and cutters. Scissors are the main tool, any scissor bought from the market is suitable as long as it is light in weight and has thin and even points and sharp blades.

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The Chinese paper cutting process

It consists in the following steps:

1. Composition: The starting point is the drawing of the pattern. 
2. Paper cutting or engraving.
3. Mending:  Sometimes there are wrong cuts or broken parts. In principle all paper cuts with broken parts or wrong cuts have to be discarded. In practice, a cut is discarded only when the broken part is large. When the  damage is small, the damaged part is cut out and replaced with a newly cut part.
4. Preservation: Paper cuts are pasted on a flat paper base for long term conservation.
5. Reproduction: Paper cuts were always coming in multiples, they were indeed reproduced without end and the best graphics were transmitted from generation to generation down history.

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About the preservation of paper cuts  

Paper cuts are fragile collectibles. They should thus be mounted with the uttermost care. Practically the only serious way to mount one of those collectibles is to frame it behind a protective glass. Multicolor ones should be protected from sun light in order to avoid color fading. If you wish to preserve your collectibles for eternity or for your grand-children, you should place them between sheets of, acid-free, white paper and place them on a horizontal support in a dry environment and out of any light source.

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Characteristics of the papercut art in China.

1. Every part of a papercut must be connected, its picture is formed of connected lines. ZHANG Yongzhou, a well-known artisan from the city of YANGZHOU, summarized the cutting of lines infive words: circular, sharp, square, deficient and thin. It means that the lines must be as round as a full moon, as sharp as a fine blade, as square as a brick as deficient as saw-teeth and as thin as human hair.    In the process of cutting out the negative of the pattern with scissors or cutters, all lines of the remaining positive must remain connected to each other. Being considered as collectibles, if some lines in the positive are cut off, the cut has to be discarded by the contemporary artist.
2. The design of paper cuts is made of black and white lines and forms. They are thus in essence two dimensional visual representations for decoration use.
3. Monochromatic or multi-chromatic
   

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Traditional Themes of papercuts in China.

Folk paper cut art has a wide range of themes that can be divided into the following categories:

1. Daily life scenes: Paper cutting was mostly realized by women in the countryside so the themes are naturally reflecting their everyday lives: raising children, chicken and pigs, herding sheep and cattle, driving mule carts, nursing babies, executing tasks in the fields, observing the richness of the plants, fruits, birds and animals in nature.
2. Hopes and wishes: Having a bumper harvest, having a surplus every year, golden pheasant standing erect, carp leaping through the dragon gate, ... 
3. Legends and theater characters: Artists usually pick their themes from the legends of their history or from the popular dramas in their native areas. In ZHEJIANG Province, the home of Shaoxing Opera, people like to depict opera characters as LIANG Shanbo, The White Snake, A dream of red mansion, ... In BEIJING the painted faces of Beijing Opera are a main theme.

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Bibliography

1. "The art of Chinese folk paper cut" ZHANG Shuxian. CHINA TODAY PRESS
2. "The folk arts" in "Complete works of fine arts" LI Cunsong and WANG Shucun. PEOPLE's FINE ARTS PUBLISHING HOUSE. 
3. "An album of Northwest paper cut" AI Qing and JIANG Feng. SHANGHAI CHENGUANG PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
4. "Chinese folk paper cuts" ZHANG Daoyi. JINLING CALLIGRAPHY AND PAINTING PRESS (Chinese edition) 
5.  "YAN'AN paper cuts" JIANG Feng and JIN Zhilin. PEOPLE's FINE ARTS PUBLISHING HOUSE (Chinese edition) 
6.  "Methods and techniques of paper cutting and engraving" CIXu (Chinese edition) 
7. "Folk paper cuts from SHANDONG Province" SHANDONG POPULAR ARTS CENTER. (Chinese edition)
8. "Chinese folk paper cuts" PEOPLE's FINE ARTS PUBLISHING HOUSE (Chinese edition) 
9. "Let a hundred flowers bloom" JIANGSU LITERATURE AND ARTS PRESS.(Chinese edition)

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Aspects of the contemporary papercut art.

I believe that the paper cut technique offers a rich avenue for all to express themselves and I wish that papercut art would be adopted largely as a new mode of graphic expression. The inescapable rigor and focus that are necessary to express oneself in this art are indeed the greatest richness that can be bestowed upon an individual.

What better testimony of this richness than a rich collection of modern papercut art works for interior decorating? Or as Beatrice Coron writes: "Take a piece of paper: a perfect support for an image. Cut or draw or paint or print or use all techniques to produce an image. Then fold the paper. You now have a book, or a sculpture, or an animation. Paper includes support, movement, interaction.."

A stark differentiation distinguishes the contemporary works realized in the West and those that are been realized in China. 

In one word Westerners generally adapt all the techniques they experiment with to the spirit of modernity that sustains contemporary western culture. In contrast Chinese culture remains still largely dominated by rural culture. This distinction in terms of the cultural environment where the contemporary papercut art is practiced, I believe, is exacerbated by the fact that the creators, the creatives, in the West are largely educated people while in China the craft is mostly exercised by rural folks. Chinese urbanites are indeed rejecting the craft, for, it reflects on the traditions of the country while they are engaged in a wild expansion of modernity in the cities. This is a generalization for sure. 

As in Europe and the States, at a given stage of industrialization when parents yearn for a higher education for their kids some of those kids feel the urge to make a cultural u-turn to rediscover their roots and the traditions of their ancestors. The same is only starting to appear today in the cities of China: local cuisines start to be popular in Beijing, Beijing Opera makes a come-back and the price of papercuts, when available, are shooting to the roof. A further stage of societal evolution will draw Chinese creative urbanites to rediscover the paper cutting craft and inspired by Western creators they shall also engage in modern style creations but without forgetting their traditions I hope...

I spent a lot of time trying to sift the stuff of interest being crafted nowadays from the abysmal mass of insignificance that litters the web. I'm happy to share the links to the sites I find of interest with the visitors of this blog.

Enjoy the surfing on the waves of the art of paper cutting.

I always appreciate a comment. This helps to eventually correct the presentation.



Laodan

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Gallery of Links to Contemporary paper Cutters.

Listed as "first found/last found".

	Richard Sweeney I used paper modeling as a means to generate form. I placed the emphasis on the creation of form through hands on material exploration, something paper lends itself to perfectly.  Discovering the properties of the medium in this direct way helped me better understand the potential of paper in its own right, leading to the creation of sculptural forms and various projects. Personal site
	Beatrice Coron   PAPERCUTTING LINKS    A brief introduction Take a piece of paper: a perfect support for an image. Cut or draw or paint or print or use all techniques to produce an image. Then fold the paper. You now have a book, or a sculpture, or an animation. Paper includes support, movement, interaction..
	Margie Florini. Florini's cut-paper collages are fun, have clear color, hard edges, and a contemporary graphic art appeal. Using beautiful Color-Aid matte-finish design papers, these original collages are the newest designs in a body of work spanning twenty years. Each one, a result of simple and strong design, is made by piecing papers side-by-side like a jig-saw puzzle, or by layering for a more 3-D effect.
	Wycinanki pronounced (Vee-chee-non-key), are Polish decorative paper cut-outs which are regarded by many as the most beautiful in the world. The Wycinanki on display at the museum were made by hand in Poland with sheep-shearing scissors. They were used to decorate the walls of ceiling beams in countryside cottages and given as gifts to family members and friends.
	Patrick Gannon is the blog of cut-paper artist and illustrator Patrick Gannon.  I’ve grown to love the textures, colors, patterns and smell of it.  My illustration has been featured in magazines, newspapers, textbooks, advertisements, and a bunch of other stuff. It pops up in both the US and Japan.
	Henri Matisse Yes the painter... Matisse created art differently than most artists of his time. He used paper and scissors to compose a remarkable masterpiece. Since 1940, Matisse has used this art form. He uses various sizes of shapes made from paper with a gouche' washes of color. Cutting the designs out, Matisse pastes them onto the art surface creating a beautiful and aesthetically pleasing work of art.
	Yee is a Canadian Artist. His company Yee's Job is located in Montreal. He designs handcrafts and all kind of paper craft. Following in the tradition of thousands years of Asian paper cutting. It is a new and creative way in which to express passions, imaginations, feelings, ideas and ideals.
	Su Blackwell The work is fragile, precious. There is a desire to utilise non-art materials; she uses what is at hand. There is an obsessive, repetitive action at work, transforming the everyday into the fantastical. She transforms old books into three-dimensional theatres, and her reconstruction offers up to the viewer many questions.
	Chris Natrop Maintaining structural integrity creates overall "fluidity" and the knife will always give way to "precision." Incidentally, if you look closely at the work you will see a lot of energetic rips, tears and over-cuts which is very integral to the process. Over time I have developed a very direct and spontaneous way to make the work. It's actually more like charcoal drawing than traditional paper cutting.
	Minomusi ISEKATAGAMI is an old paper hand craft of Japan(MIE prefecture). Its skill was developed in the time of the Tokugawa shogunate. (Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry select ISEKATAGAMI as JAPAN TRADITIONAL CRAFT in 1983 A.D.) The first use purpose is printing KIMONO PATTERN. It changes to interior decoration now.
	Hideo Iwasaki a contemporary papercut artist. Papercut is distinguishable from other flat painting categories like drawing, printing, and woodcut and so on with some characteristics. For example, it can be seen even if you turn the paper over. So, in my opinion, this three-dimensional nature and the feeling of freedom must be taken into consideration for creating papercut.
	Wendy McNally The feathers will shimmer from a light breeze and from heavy laughter. A harmonious blend of teas and lightly spirited fruit juices may inspire visionary answers to a stream of revolutionary quandaries. If the meal ends and you are still without a mate, wait. Your mental state can flirt with fate, but love is in the weather and an unpretentious date
	Thin line paper-cut a distinctive genre of Chinese paper cut, originated from Yueqing, Zhejiang Province. According to local historical records, thin line paper-cut appeared and developed in the Southern Dynasty , thanks to the region's thriving economy and frequent exchanges with the outside world. Different from the plain and bold northern style, Yueqing thin line paper-cut features a delicate and exquisite syle and a rich south China charm.
	Rick Jones The art of scherenschnitte. An article by Rick Jones. Scientific illustrator, painter, and master paper cutter Rick Jones of Redwood City, California.   Rick tucked his paper-cut snowflakes away in the “fond childhood memories” compartment. There they stayed until, years later, he enrolled in a course in Mexican folk art. Among the course topics was paper cutting. He picked up scissors and tried his hand.
	Marie-Helene L. Grabman My artwork has been described as "traditional Swiss-German scherenschnitte (scissor cuttings) with elements of collage".  Each original, copyrighted paper cut design is hand cut with European scissors.     Ha ha ha... European scissors are manufactured in China nowadays... but since when does the art of the place of origin of a tool follow the tool and land in the hands of the one who uses the tool?   Jeez!
	Hans Christian Andersen About 1,000 paper-cuts of all sizes still exist to this day – primitive figures and simple tableaux as well as more ornamental, sophisticated cuttings. They belong to a world of their own, but they all have their roots in precisely the same rich, widely embracing creative imagination which in the nineteenth century revolutionized world literature...
	Archie Granot His creative papercuts - ketubahs (ketubot), mizrachs, mezuzahs, blessings for the Jewish life cycle and more - both revive and continue a traditional Jewish art form while innovating against it. Distinguished by multiple layers of paper, Granot produces creative and beautiful papercuts - complex and impressive works, each cut with surgical scalpel, require a lengthy and intuitive process of creation...
	Dena Levie has been creating Judaic papercuts for many years and has completed hundreds of pieces.  She enjoys working with clients to create personalized, one of a kind artwork. Each piece is intricately cut from one piece of paper. The artwork usually encompasses names in Hebrew and/or English as well as important symbols relevant to the client’s life. The backgrounds are hand painted in a color chosen by the client.
	Laura Cooperman received the Grainger Marburg travel grant for her cut paper work. Laura became engrossed in the delicate, methodical process of paper cutting and began experimenting with light, depth, and movement.  She is currently planning to travel to China in the fall to study the traditional art of Chinese paper cutting and to document and interpret the effects of urban renewal in Beijing through her cut paper overlays.
	Peter Callesen Lately I have been working almost exclusively with white paper in different objects, paper cuts, installations and performances. Some of these objects and installations are copies of stairs and ladders made out of thin paper. These works derive from my earlier work, Bridge and Still life, dealing with dreams and the impossible - but here in a more fragile and almost sublime version.
	Nigel Cameron.  History of the Chinese Papercut.    Up until 20 years ago Chinese papercuts never received serious artistic attention, either from the Chinese themselves or from Western scholars. They belonged to the category of folk art, something that until very recently was taken for granted and regarded as hardly worthy of serious study. Fortunately, this attitude is now a thing of the past.
	Chris Gilmour has imposed a strict logic on his works he makes objects using only cardboard and glue. His interpretations of everyday objects are created in adherence to the use of a pure and single material, but instead of the marble or bronze of classical statues, he has chosen one of the most humble and commonly found of our industrial times.
	Kathleen Trenchard Cut-It-Out Studio Featuring Cut or Perforated Paper Banners, Bandarillas, Luminarias, Notecards and other fine custom designed papel picado products
	Eric Choisel Origami artist. If one isn’t an origami folder, it’s difficult to explain the process of conception through to the finished model. The creation process is similar to a scientific method. When designing a person, one begins with the assumption that the four corners of the paper will represent each hand and foot.
	Jen Stark  (My preferred modern cutter. Check her videos... simply fantastically beautifull) • MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) / North Miami, FL • The West Collection / Oaks, PA • The Girls Club Collection / Ft Lauderdale, FL • Christine and Martin Taplin’s Sagamore Collection / Miami Beach, FL
	Eric Gjerde When asked by his parents what he wanted to be when he grew up, five-year-old Eric replied, “a paperologist.” Throughout his childhood and adolescence he enjoyed paper crafts and origami—a frequent birthday gift was stacks of paper and rolls of tape.
	Paper-Based Pie Chart Graphs A nice DIY experiment [knolleary.net] of how graphs can be represented with paper - not on paper, but with paper. Having a physical, paper-based embodiment of the raw data means one can touch it, feel it, grope it, which in the end might help the understanding.
	Ueli Hofer Ueli Hofer wurde 1952 in Lütiwil geboren, im Emmental, wo ihn die Natur  zu schöpferischer Tätigkeit anregte. Nach der Prüfung zum Bäcker-Konditorenmeister schlug Ueli Hofer schon bald einen künstlerischen Weg ein. Erste Kleinode geschnittenen Papiers entstanden und in kurzer Zeit zeugten erfolgreiche Ausstellungen im In- und Ausland vom grossen Können des Autodidakten.
	Yulia Brodskaya I was born in Russia where I started out as a fine artist producing contemporary office decoration artwork for Moscow based companies while studying for my first degree in Graphic Design. In 2004 I moved to London, earned my M.A. in Graphic Communication and since then have been busy with parallel careers as an illustrator and a freelance graphic designer.
	Anastasia Elias Anastasia Elias is a French artist known for her small paper sculptures within toilet paper rolls. Tiny papercuts are glued inside the toilet paper rolls...
	Daniel Mar j’utilise maintenant le papier blanc comme un matériel apte à être découpé, plié ou collé pour  bâtir un monde fragile et improbable, poétique et métaphorique, susceptible d’émouvoir.
	Brian Dettmer I cut into the surface of the book and dissect through it from the front. I work with knives, tweezers and surgical tools to carve one page at a time, exposing each layer while cutting around ideas and images of interest. Nothing inside the books is relocated or implanted, only removed. Images and ideas are revealed to expose alternate histories and memories.
	Wataru Itou wonderful paper craft art installation by a genius of the name of Wataru Itou, a young student of a major art university here in Tokyo. The installation is hand made over four years of hard work, complete with electrical lights and a moving train, all made of paper! Clearly, this man must have created one of the most stunning examples of Paper Craft in the world?
	Cheong-ah Hwang a wife, mother and a self taught paper artist originally from Korea who is working hard to fulfill her dream of becoming a full time artist. As each original piece of papercut art was hard to produce, she wanted to offer affordable prints as an alternative for those who love her work
	Torben Clausen Jarlstrøm The clips are strong in terms of visuals, not least because of the strong contrast occurs between clips and background. Ikke mindst derfor er de også velegende som grafik eller illustrationer til hjemmesider på nettet.
	Ingrid Siliakus After the design stage, creating a paper architecture art work is done by a combination of detailed cutting and folding. The paperweight Ingrid uses for her creations varies from 160 to 300 gram.
	Jeff Nishinaka Distinct from traditions such as origami, paper sculpture entails making intricate cutouts with an X-acto knife on artist-grade paper. The artist curves the designs with a dowel, then layers them onto a background in three-dimensional forms.
	Chris Whitside I am starved for spirit. Although they occasionally fill me with awe, neither religion nor science inspires me with deep purpose and meaning. I worry that this is a widespread malaise, an existential depression infecting too many people in a world where consumerism spills in too easily to fill the void. Personally, I'm not inspired by money or power so the material world is a kind of hell to me.
	Helen Musselwhite Each piece combines the hand cutting, folding and scoring of a wide range of papers and card that are further worked on to create patterned and textured surfaces. They are then used to build scenes in box frames which are often complex and consist of many layers.
	hina aoyama Japanese living in Paris. "je fais decoupage avec des petits ciseaux. duree un mois au deux mois pour decoupe tableau de 1m sur 1m."
	Pablo Lehmann I constantly try to create ambiguities in the material transforming the  paper sheets in word nets. The subject the conceptual structure of my works are influenced and stimulated by litterary and theoretical authors...
	Elod Beregszaszi All pieces shown are cut and folded from a single sheet of paper and arefully collapsible. For most of my work I use 220 gsm superfine white cartridge paper.
	Noriko Ambe Started in '99, this is my life work. I individually cut single sheets of paper by free-hand and stack them together. The work consists of positive or negative shapes. I am trying to embody relationships among humans, time and nature.
	Jonathan Callan coverless books that are drilled together to create an intrinsically organic structure that beings to approach a painting or drawing..
	Bovey Lee I define what I do as drawing with a knife. My life long love affair with art begins with practicing Chinese calligraphy and pencil drawing since age ten. When I cut paper, it is a visceral reaction and natural response to my affection for precision, detail, and subtlety. The physical and mental demand from cutting paper is extreme and thrilling.
	Jill Sylvia Her medium is ledger paper, traditionally used to record the financial transactions of a business or an individual. She uses a drafting knife to individually remove tens of thousands of boxes from this paper, leaving behind the lattice of the grid intended to separate the boxes.
	Karen Bit Vejle Psaligraphy – the art of papercutting – requires time. Both when it comes to creation and experience of the work of art. Contrary to almost everything else in the world today, psaligraphy is a slow art. It takes time to master, plan and perform it. Karen Bit Vejle creates images of air and paper.
	Aurel Rubbish French artist creates ornate paper-cut works in which figures seem to flourish from baroque decorative motifs. The combination of black paper, gold leaf embellishments, and white negative space creates high-contrast, graphic visuals that immediately grab viewers’ attention.
	Lisa Nilsson These astonishing renderings of symmetrically designed carpets are the beginning of a new paper sculpture series by artist Lisa Nilsson (previously) who arranges quilled strips of hand-cut mulberry paper at remarkably small scale. The new paper works are a departure from her earlier exploration of anatomical cross-sections
	Erin Curet A prolific paper roller with a colorful style all her own. She relies on the use of vivid paper strips to paint mosaic pictures that are composed of tightly placed coils. Erin discovered quilling only six years ago, but it has already taken her on quite a journey, both literally and figuratively.
	Keiko Susuki an artist originally from Japan, now living in Seattle. The hand-torn newspaper collages you see on this website are my original designs. I use an amazing technique that gives a unique and softly textural look to the nature and animal subjects I love to portray.
	All Things Paper Ann Martin, a quilling enthusiast who explores the worlds of creative paper art and paper craft. Topics range from the latest on the craft scene - stylish DIYs, trends, and book reviews - to interviews with established artists, and features about emerging artisans with big ideas.
	Taylor Twigg All jewelry in my line is individually handsculpted of paper and wire. There are no molds or forms involved in my work. My pieces are wearable sculptures, specially sealed using a technique I developed so that they are waterproof against the worst weather conditions. I ship worldwide.
	Sarah Dennis Sarah's work combines traditional paper cutting with collage. Sarah's pieces exemplify the beauty of nature in fairy tales and whimsical childhood dreams, telling classic poems and folk tales through the medium of paper. Each piece is individually hand-cut using a craft knife to reveal exquisite, delicate detail within the illustration.
	The Paper Artist Collective A Global collective of artists, designers and creativew with a shared passion for creating beautiful things from paper. The collective started in 2015 with the aim to bring together like minded creatives for paper related sharing and discussion over social media. The Collective now represents over 50 members from 22 countries with new members being invited on a monthly basis. The day-to-day running of the PAC is jointly led by Kristine & Samantha
	Ivan Belikov Nearly six months in the making, this superb interpretation of the Netherlands coat of arms was lead by Moldova-based Beauty & the Beast Studio that rendered the 7-color emblem which was then translated into hundreds of cut fragments that were painstakingly assembled into multiple levels. This is just a glimpse of the final piece, you can see more plus lots of process photos over on Behance.
	Eric Standley In an exquisite nexus of mathematics, art history, and technology, artist Eric Standley (previously) creates densely stacked layers of laser-cut paper to form sculptures reminiscent of Islamic architecture or Gothic rose windows. His understanding of geometry, shape and color as it applies to paper structures has expanded greatly over the last few years.
	Maud Vantours The Paris-based designer and artist  uses layer upon layer of cut paper to create hypnotizing patterns and textures that translate into set designs, fashion accessories, and editorial treatments. Vantors has explored a number of 3D paper treatments including floral patterns, spirals, and gemotric designs. You can see more of her work at Figure and over on Behance.
	Carlo Fantin Our worship of technology was the starting point for his latest body of paper-cuts. He infuses Catholic iconography with designs and logos familiar to social media users, poking fun at contemporary society’s devotion to Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Fantin creates his imagery through a subtractive process, carving away negative space to create web-like textures that evoke the stained glass windows in a cathedral.
	Rogan Brown The artist  (previously) recently completed work on this new cut paper sculpture titled Cut Microbe. Four months in the making, the piece is a continuation of Brown’s exploration of the human biome and was inspired by the form of salmonella and ecoli bacteria (this 44″ sculpture is about half a million times bigger than the real thing).
	The art duo Stallman  Meticulously folding canvas and layering color, the art duo Stallman (Jason Hallman and Stephen Stum) turn a traditional painting surface on its head, using the structure of the canvas to give their works vibrant depth. The two artists are deeply inspired by gradients found in the natural world, their color selection and positioning appearing almost topographic.

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