Ever since I learned how to do some traditional chinese paper cutting while spending a middle school summer in China, I’ve been fascinated by the art of paper cut. In a sense, it’s one of the most limited media in art: you have only paper and scissors as your tools. But in another sense, there are endless ways you can cut, layer, and fold your art to make it come to life. Nahoko Kojima really takes this creativity to a whole other level. Her work is inspired by the traditional Japanese papercutting craft kirie, but not only are her pieces gigantic, they are 3 dimensional. She uses thin fishing twine to string her artwork from the ceiling, so the paper drapes into the shape of a dragon, a tiger, a whale, or some other incredible creature. Amazingly, most of her pieces are made from a single sheet of Japanese washi paper (which she uses since its color becomes warmer as it ages). Her biggest installation, a blue whale, is only 2 sheets of paper (which is pretty unbelievable when you look at how detailed and big the piece is)! Her ability to turn a simple 2 dimensional sheet of paper into an intricate 3D sculpture is really like no other.
Article about her blue whale installation:
Documentary featuring Nahoko Kojima:
