[05.) PAPERCRAFT: RESEARCH] Ellie Serben

 [05.) PAPERCRAFT: RESEARCH] Ellie Serben 

Assignment: Papercraft Research

Assigned: Monday, Oct 24

Due: Monday, Oct 30 @ 11:59PM (midnight!)

Sculptures Hand-Cut from Single Sheets of Paper by Nahoko Kojima

Migration

"Japanese paper artist Nahoko Kojima cuts intricate sculptures of animals, textures, and other natural phenomenon from single sheets of paper, some of which are displayed encased in acrylic sheets while others like her Cloud Leopard are installed as 3D artworks."

Nahoko Kojima's works are incredibly detailed, abstract, works made on thin pieces on paper. They are flexible pieces, featuring negative space. Despite paper being rigid and flat, the designs are loose and flowing. Similar to how a pumpkin is carved, Nahoko's designs, are made by cutting the negative space, revealing the outline of the creation afterwards. Her designs look as if they were drawn by sharpie and are left floating on display. "her large-scale works are each hand cut from a single sheet, exploring themes of human existence, animals and the forces of nature". 

Her works are suspended in the air via strings, or they are framed on a wall. They are all made with material which makes the sculpture appear shiny. Some of her designs are made to appear 2D, and others are made to appear 3D based on how the paper is folded. The sculptures are large, with certain spaces revealing details on the other side of the sculpture, like a looking glass. 

Her work inspires me because of the artistic detail. It reminds me the meditative colouring books, made with swirling lines and abstract versions of flowers and animals. 

I selected this work because the visual detail caught my eye immediately. The comic like line work, and precise structure committed to making the figures is amazing. The way the feathers look in the migration piece is stunning because of its realism. I could imagine myself making art pieces of my comic book characters, and specific scenes using Nahoko's method. This method would also go well in making sculptures of plants, and shadows, with consideration towards the fluid movement of the paper. 

Because the paper is hand cut, the materials required would be different blades, similarly to an exacto knife. I could see the paper being used to create forms such waves and patterns. It would go well on subjects such as those in a military setting, city settings, and surreal environments such as dark shadowy places such as hell.