A Paper-cut World VI

As my bookbinding and paper-cutting workshops get marked in 2015’s diary, here are a few more artists and works to add to the ‘paper-cut world’ series of blog posts…some new and some familiar names. The first works are by Li Hongbo, a name who has been mentioned on here before with his flexible paper sculptures. This time Li has been working on has been creating cuts, silhouettes, on and from knife blades – ‘Shadow of Knives’. He states ‘human beings will eventually destroy themselves because of their gluttony and their abuse of animals’.

New York-based artist Maude White creates beautifully rendered illustrations with cut paper. White relies heavily on thin lines and negative space to create each illustration, a subtractive process with no room for error. Her latest series titled ‘What’s Left on the Farm‘ involves portraits of women with objects in their hair.

Next is Taiwanese artist Jam Wu. In the spring of 2014, Wu was invited to visit the Hermès Petit h workshop in Paris, where he immediately connected with the founder, Pascale Mussard, and the medley of creative works he saw also inspired him to create artworks utilizing Hermès’ leather pieces, scarves, and handmade papers. Drawing creative inspirations from one of the most important and prevalent Chinese folk art, paper-cutting, this cultural vessel is transformed by Wu into experimental contemporary art, resulting in artworks that are highly unique in the Chinese art world. His creative endeavours include conceptual performance works, mix-media installations, and participatory projects.

Finally, Leah Wong uses paper to ‘map ideas, activities and memories. They are a dialectic of representation and abstraction, and a mixture of Chinese and Western art and culture influences.  I’m interested in multiple layers and like to put figures and objects in ambiguous relationships.’

“Life is layered. I believe time, space and cultural dimensions exist relationally. The challenge is to decide how to transcribe random moments of daily activities and dots of thought and observation to create layers that shift between memories and existences both abstractly and realistically.  Each series of my works conjures up a range of moods that express moments, memories and a journey of self-understanding.” – Leah Wong