After seeing the image of the beautifully carved Arabic headboard mentioned in our blog on March 20th, I found myself thinking about the intricate art of paper cutting.  And WOW was I amazed at some of the work which has been produced!  Truly inspirational creations which, without seeing the images, I wouldn’t have thought were possible. All of a sudden my talent for creating a short row of cut-out doll figures seems a bit lame!

Below are ‘Parallell Stairs’ and ‘White Diary’ by Danish artist Peter Callesen. Now this is what I call art! Can you believe this is all just paper?

Just look at a close up of the detail in his work, unbelievable!

Just as equally as impressive is the artwork by Hina Aoyama. I can imagine her delicate designs being used as wallpaper or stencils to create the perfect feature wall…

Aoyama says, “They are super fine lacy-paper-cuttings done by a simple pair of scissors. My passion is to create a finest cutoff beyond the level of the very time-consuming needle lace making. I don’t follow traditional but I am trying to create a mixture of the traditional and modern styles and to produce my own world through this super fine lacy-paper-cuttings technique”

See Hina at work on You Tube here

I love the smooth symmetry of this piece by Richard Sweeney- who would ever guess it is made purely from paper?!

For me, the beauty isn’t just in the pieces themselves but in the shadows they create. Take a look at the image below and I’m sure you’ll agree…

Obviously none of the items mentioned were ever intended to be practical. However the cardboard table below by David Graas, perhaps with a glass top protector or pretty tablecloth, wouldn’t look so out-of-place in a modern home. What a great conversation-starter for guests!

How about building a few card Bloxes to create a sturdy wall, maybe an office partition? Apparantly the structure will last for years and isn’t permanent so can be moved around to your heart’s desire!

I’m drawn to this piece below by Kylie Stillman (Lovely Wren, 2005), where the image of a bird has been carved into a book. I imagine it framed, perhaps with two or the others together on a wall. The simplicity is very striking, especially combined with the green.

It seems a paper trend is sweeping its way through some of the major fashion houses too. If it’s good enough to feature in the likes of the Chanel spring/summer 2009 collection, it’s good enough for me!  Below is the catwalk decor.  Stunning!

More on this trend in our next post…

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