PAPERSHAPERS

Oh the excitement of seeing this video (about 8 minutes)! Worth the wait.

Scion Presents: 'PAPERSHAPERS' curated by Giant Robot

Papershapers is a group show featuring ten artists who work with paper-not "on paper." The exhibition will feature works that are cut, torn, folded, and sewn into unique creations.

Featuring:
Shin Tanaka, Hunter Stabler, Polly Verity, Annie Vought, Ana Serrano, Richard Sweeney, Peter Callesen, Brian Dettmer, Ryohei Tanaka

Show Run: April 11 - May 2 2009

Scion Installation LA
3521 Helms Ave @ National
Culver City Ca 90232


[Video and Text extracted from Scion]

Mobile Caravan - Paper Theo Jansen

If you have been in awe of Theo Jansen's wind structures like us, you will be thrilled to see the animated paper version.

For more information, visit Mobile Caravan blog and YouTube.

Noriko Ambe

Detail of "Cracking", 2006
63.5 x 91.4 x 2.5 cm, cuts on Yupo paper

Detail of "Sculpaper 1", 2006
40.6 x 121.9 x 182.9 cm, cuts on Housho-shi paper placed on pedestal

Born in Saitama, Japan, Noriko Ambe started a series of works using paper in 1999, titled "Linear-Actions Projects by Drawing and Cutting." Resembling annual rings of a tree, a topographical map or waves, the works are traces of the artist's actions and the lines that she cuts are organic responses to the materials and her surrounding. Cut by hand, Noriko's works conveys the nuances of human emotions, habits and rhythm.

Find more of her beautiful works here.

Currently residing in NY, Noriko graduated with a BFA in Oil Painting from Musashino Art University, Tokyo in 1990. Interestingly some of Noriko's latest works uses paper from Yupo, manufacturer of environmentally concious synthetic paper. The introduction of synthetic paper emerged from questions about the availability of pulp resources in the near future. A product of the petrochemical industry,synthetic paper is primarily created of synthetic resins derived from petroleum.

Her earlier works cut from white paper and found books are just as incredible.

Cutting Books in Tokyo Series, 2003
Sizes vary, cuts on white books

Linear-Actions Cutting Project 12, Encyclopedia "Geography of Japan 2", 2002
25 x 50 x 4.5 cm, cuts on an encyclopedia, with case
[Photo by Masa Noguchi]

[all images and text extracted from Noriko Ambe]

via the incredible LE TERRITOIRE DES SENS

Andreas Kocks

Paperwork #704, "Splatter"
Neue Werkstätten, München, 2007
421x1300x10cm, paper

Born in 1960, Andreas Kocks currently lives and works in New York City and Munich. Originally from Oberhausen, Germany, Andreas' site-specific paper installations are multiple layers of paper, usually in white or black, that is precisely cut, such that they peel and ripple in dynamic motions off the gallery walls.

Andreas graduated with a MFA in Sculpture from Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in 1989 after receiving a BFA in Integration of Fine Art and Architecture from Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and MA in Education from University of Düsseldorf in 1987.

Paperwork #848 G, "Big Bang"
TBWA, Vienna, Austria, 2009
300x1600x15cm; Graphite on paper

For an incredible video of the installation process, here.

Detail of paperwork #701G, "In the Beginning"
DG-Galerie, München, 2007
580x1060x15cm; Graphite on paper

For more information, visit Andreas Kock's website.

[all images and text extracted from Andreas Kocks.]

Daniel Piker

Daniel Piker demonstrates numerous ways where paper is folded into deployable, transformable and bistable structures, and even auxetics and linkages.

Daniel is a student of architecture in London and is currently studying part time for Diploma in Mathematics, leading to Ba/BSc Mathematics.

Click on image for a clearer view of patterns with their matching foldings below.

Daniel has generously shared his folding and cutting patterns with anyone who is interested to develop from his explorations. Find a clearer version of the top row, third pattern from left here. Just print out and fold along the lines. Solid lines fold up and dotted lines fold down. You can find more on his blog.

For more information, visit Daniel Piker's blog, vimeo and flickr

via the amazing PACKAGING | UQAM

David Pelham

Trail - Paper Poetry, published in 2007, is the work of genius paper engineer, David Pelham. Prying reveals that David studied at St Martin’s School of Art in the 50s and gained wide experience working on various magazines such as The Ambassador, Studio International and Harper’s Bazaar, before famously joining Penguin Books art director in 1968.

David Pelham is the art director responsible for the distinctive Penguin spine - in orange, blue or green - complete with Tschichold’s magnificent symbol in the top right corner on the front and back cover. His artistic reforms in the 70s revolutionised the cover design of Penguin Books, freeing designers from the constricting grids and perceiving each front cover as a blank canvas. David has won many awards, including the Gold Awards from both the Designers and Art Directors Association of London and the Art Directors' Club of New York. He left Penguin Books in 1980. Find an indepth interview of David Pelham with Creative Review here.

Trail - Paper Poetry is a journey through an enchanting maze of stunning pop-up landscapes that range from tranquil to mysterious to magical. The entirely white multi dimensional book pops up and transports you into David Pelham's magical world.
Buy it here!

As a a published author and an illustrator, David is the the creator of numerous dimensional books and is a talented paper engineer. His acclaimed books include pop up books for children and young adults. His award-winning international best-seller, The Penguin Book of Kites, was published in nine foreign language editions and is still in print. Working on both sides of the Atlantic, he lives in London and has three children.

[via Donna Hay issue 44 Apr/May 2009, pp12]

Laura Cooperman

Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1984 to a family of architects, Laura Cooperman, has created elaborate structures, floor plans, and meticulous arrangements out of household items as a child. After working for artist Nancy Spero, Laura became engrossed in the delicate, methodical process of paper cutting and began experimenting with light, depth, and movement.



In Spring 2006, Laura received the Grainger Marburg travel grant for her paper-cutting work. 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. With movable parts and rotating gears, her creations are little engineering feats of their own right!



[images and text extracted from Laura Cooperman.]

Janna Syvanoja

Born 1960 in Helsinki, Finland, Janna Syvanoja creates her recycled paper jewellery pieces, with an organically slow process, by curving each slice of paper around the steelwire, piece by piece to evolve its shape by itself. Printed paper to her has an additional facet of the information it contains. Transformed into graphical patterns on the surface of her pieces, one can only see make out the words and letters that contained messages and expressions, very much what the artist wishes her jewellery is worn for.





[images extracted from Charon Kransen Arts.]

For more information, visit Janna Syvanoja.

Jacob Hashimoto

Untitled, 2006
200x158x19.5cm; Paper, Nylon String, Bamboo, Acrylic

Jacob Hashimoto was born in Greeley, U.S.A., in 1973. He lives and works in Los Angeles. Distinctly American, he engages with his Japanese heritage in a genuinely creative manner. His works instill an uplifting sense of airiness. The delicacy of his forms, whether they descend and envelop or expand and climb, creates as much a space for the spirit as for the body.

For more information,visit Jacob Hashimoto.

Ball Nogues Studio

Ball-Nogues Studio is Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues, the very talented creators behind the integrated design and fabrication practice that creates experimental built environments to enhance and celebrate the potential for social interaction through sensation, spectacle and physical engagement.

Rip Curl Canyon, Rice University Art Gallery, 2006

Rip Curl Canyon viewed through the glass provided only glimpses of the unfolding topography beyond and invited the visitor to probe deeper.

Details of Rip Curl Canyon, Rice University Art Gallery, 2006

The project, created of 20,000 strips of corrugated cardboard curved,industrially die-cut and laminated over twelve days, weighs almost eight tons. Incredibly strong with an intermediary plywood armature, it is capable of supporting the weight of several people. Ball Nogues Studio digitally developed a language of slotting connections so that these non-standard parts came together like a giant puzzle in four days, required very little structural decision making on site, giving them freedom to improvise during installation.

Rip Curl Canyon, Rice University Art Gallery, 2006

Using the properties and limitations of the material the designers determined the shape of the cardboard ribbons through building full scaled mock-ups during development combined with a digital study of the parametric interface.

For more information, visit Ball Nogues Studio.

Erica Rasmussen

Neckpiece

Erica Rasmussen is an artist who creates sculptural and wearable works of mixed media. She graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis). Her current work explores issues of identity and corporeality, often utilizing clothing as metaphor for one's skin.

[image from Papierwespe; text extracted from Media and Fine Arts, Resident Faculty]

Noriko Yamaguchi

Detail of group exhibition "2 x Three Beauties - The Charites" at General Public, Berlin, Germany, 2008
Japanese paper
Photo by Yushi Kamito

Noriko Yamaguchi, is a paper artist and sculptor, currently based in Berlin, Germany. Born in 1972, Japan, she graduated in 1996 with a Master of Fine Arts in Dyeing and Weaving, from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.

Solo exhibition at Gallery Art Point, Tokyo, Japan; 2007
600cm x660cm; Washi (Japanese paper)
Photo by Hideto Nagatsuka

Detail of group exhibtion "SUSPENDED"; Artist-In-Residence Program 2006/Autumn at Aomori Contemporary Art Centre (ACAC), Aomori, Japan; 2006
900cm x600cm

For more information, visit Noriko Yamaguchi.

Kyoko Okubo

Bathroom,
6"x9"x12"(HxWxD); Washi paper sclpture

Kyoko Okubo's small, gentle figures are meticulous crafted from washi, the traditional paper of Japan. Her diminutive, symbolic self-portraits resonate with intensity and challenge the imagination. There is something compeling and fragile about her works that makes us want to see more.

[Images and text extracted from Mobilia Gallery]

Angela O'Kelly

sculptural arm piece in lime
paper

Angela O’Kelly is a designer maker who crosses boundaries of jewellery, textiles and sculpture. She combines paper with mixed media using a variety of traditional and non-traditional textile and jewellery techniques. Inspiration derives from a fascination with simple shapes, textures, repetition and colour in urban and rural landscapes.

sculptural neck piece
newspaper, financial times

sculptural arm pieces
fabric paper, paper, plastic,felt

For more information, visit Angela O'Kelly.

Mafoombey

Mafoombey - a space for music

Winner of the Habitare design contest at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki in 2005, Mafoombey is a space for music that explores the acoustics of cardboard. The 2.5 cubic meters listening room is composed of 720 hand-cut pieces of cardboard, stacked without adhesive. Built for experiencing music, the space includes a sitting area for two to three people and a DVD player to play music. Energy-saving lights and surround-sound speakers are built into the 360-layered structure, with one central wire leading out to plug in for electricity.

Mafoombey is designed by Martti Kalliala and Esa Ruskeepää while they were attending the architecture school at Helsinki University of Technology, with the help of architect friend Martin Lukasczyk. All three are busy building their international resumes

via Archrecord.

David Graas

Enter David Graas, a designer who consciously considers the afterlife of his designs.

FYS (Finish Your Self) junior, 2007
Corrugated cardboard

FYS junior is a puzzle chair that little ones can fix up together with parents. The chair is 100% recyclable and uses a large part of its own packaging.

Don't spill your coffee table, 2007
Corrugated cardboard

A coffee table made up from corrugated cardboard parts that are flatpacked and slide together for easy assembly.

not a box, 2007

The lamp shade doubles up as the packaging that holds its parts within, including bulb, plug, cable and manual. Just cut off the top and bottom flap and install. Minimising wastage, a graphical suggestion of what the lamp could have been is cut out to let light through.

[images and text extracted from David Graas.]

David Graas is located at Van Hallstraat 260, 1051 HM Amsterdam, Netherlands; Tel: (31)6 4808 0207. For more information, visit David Graas.

via the amazing treehugger.

Stussy

Hextable
recycled cardboard

Designed by Wilson Brothers for Stussy, Hextable is an occasional table made from two identical components that is folded and locked into place. Fully recyclable, the honeycomb core table is incredibly light at 1.2kg, yet strong structurally.

Hextable is comissioned for Stussy Japan, after the success of the limited edition Stussy Chairfix created for the Stussy store in London. The product is hand screen printed in London with a Stussy pattern.

via Stussy

Nume at Fuori Salone del Mobile 2007

nume's cardboard city Fuorisalone, 2007

We have recently posted about the Polyhedal House from nume and cannot resist sharing about the exhibition at the Fuori Salone del Mobile 2007 that preceded its launch.



The Crea il tuo spazio (Create Your Space)exhibition-workshop, was held along the curved arcades flanking the Rotonda della Besana, one of Milan's greatest example of 18th century architecture. Located in the historic centre of the city, the interactive exhibition introduced play elements of white cardboard that took shape and meaning through the participation of children.

The white surface offered endless interpretative solutions as a blank canvas on
which to express creativity and imagination. we hope it can inspire you as much as it helped us!

via nume, Reuben Miller and kidsmodern.

Bloxes

Bloxes

Bloxes are building blocks made of interlocking pieces of corrugated cardboard, folded together. They are connected with each other on all six sides and can be used to construct benches, tables, tunnels, even walls. Their unique shape and structure make them exceptionally strong and lightweight.

How to build Bloxes

Bloxes measure 9½" square when assembled; a pack of 20 will create a 4-by-5 blox wall of approximately 36" by 45". Sold in quantities of 20, the unassembled bloxes fit in a 15" square box for easy shipping. We think they make great screen and partitions!

For more information, visit Bloxes.

via inhabitat.

Stutchbury and Pape

Cardboard House, 2005

Col James, of Australian architecture firm Stutchbury and Pape, in association with the Ian Buchan Fell Housing Research Unit at University of Sydney, has developed a cardboard house which is weatherproof, collapsible and very cheap. Light and recyclable, the project is a possible option for temporary housing.

Part of the Houses of the Future exhibition held in Sydney in 2005, the building can be assembled by two people over a six-hour period using appropriate scaffolding, and is transportable in a light commercial vehicle.



via Vestal Design.

Plushpod

For your kitty, the Cat Cacoon from Plushpod is the ideal playhouse.


Cat Cacoon from Plushpod
exterior 28"x21"x15"(LxWxH);
interior cavity 25"x18"13.5"(LxWxH);
hand-laminated corrugated cardboard



Designed by Warren Lieu, the pods are constructed of 83 layers of laser-cut double wall corrugated cardboard, sculpted into a unique pod shape with playful holes bored into it for pets to stick their paws into. An alternative to a scratching post, the cardboard is great for sharpening claws, durable enough to last a very long time. It is at the same time a lounger, a scratching pod, a playhouse, a secured hiding place, and a piece of sculpture in your home.

[images and text extracted from Plushpod]

For more information, visit Plushpod.

via the inspiring Poppytalk.

Farm Designs

Flute Lamp (Large), 2007
460x460x300mm; Corrugated cardboard

Designed by Giles Miller for Farm Designs, these Flute Lamps undergo the process of fluting cardboard to imprint a floral pattern into the surface of the material.

Here are some other brilliant cardboard collections from Farm Designs over the years that we would love to share.

Grandfather-C, 2008 and Wardrobe-C, 2007
530x530x1960mm and 965x1955x500mm; Corrugated cardboard

Flute screens, 2006
1200x400x1700mm; Corrugated cardboard

Exbox Bench, 2005
1000mmx1000mmx any length; Corrugated cardboard

For more information, visit Farm Designs.


via the superb Moco Loco

Nume

polyhedral house from nume
white corrugated board; 108x120x92cm

nume, the Italian designer for children, offers a polyhedral playhouse that is easy to assemble and dismantle. The build-it-yourself igloo is made of white cardboard so that little ones can decorate and customise.Perfect for experimenting with creativty and independence with.

[images and text from nume.]

For more information, visit nume.

via kidsmodern.

Cardboard

We start this week with a fresh surge of inspiration from paper - Cardboard!

Commonly called cardboard by non-specialists, what we really meant is corrugated fiberboard. Corrugated board is a paper-based construction material consisting of a layer of fluted corrugated sheet sandwiched between one or two flat linerboards.

It is widely used in the manufacture of corrugated boxes and shipping containers. The corrugated medium and linerboard are made of paperboard, a paper-like material usually over 0.25mm thick.

We like the raw industrial feel of the material, although modern cutting methods and laser precision has been used to produced a whole range of amazing designs. Flat-packed, eco-friendly, low-cost, deployable, are some of the many features of this material that is played up in designs.

[image from Colquim; text extracted from Wikipedia]

Marion Bataille

Popup by Marion Bataille as posted by Jacques Faciale. This video is tons of fun, showing all the movable and pop-up parts of the book!

The french illustrator, graphic designer and photographer Marion Bataille just released a new Pop-up book, ABC3D, based in 3D type. A very nice object both for typo-geeks and children. ABC3D is her first book to be published in the UK. Buy it here!

[via Swiss Legacy]

Hideo Iwasaki

A very talented artist wrote to us, making us very happy! We are so excited by his amazing work we need to share.

Detail of Mobile Composition I, 2007
black paper

Born in Tokyo in 1971, Hideo Iwasaki, is a contemporary papercut artist with an unusual background in biology. He has been papercutting from the tender age of seven and seek to express the raw characteristics of papercut. He creates mono-chromatic works directly with a knife, with an impressive step-by-step documentation here. His work as a biologist allows him to liberate the studies of life science in his art intuitively. Installed between glass panels or as mobiles, there is multiplicity in viewing his abstract compositions.


Detail of Polymorphosis, 2004
2000 mm x 1300 mm x 1000 mm (WxDxH); black paper, acryl and mirror

[images and text extracted from Hideo Iwasaki. Thank you, Hideo!]


Hideo Iwasaki is located a Kita 2-21-16, Kunitachi-City, Tokyo 186-0001, Japan. For more informaion, visit Hideo Iwasaki.

Ela Cindoruk

We stumbled upon the works of Ela Cindoruk and fell in love with her beautiful work. We had to refrain from posting her entire Compass Rose collection.

Born in Ankara in 1963, Ela Cindoruk graduated from the Industrial Design Deparment of METU. She studied Jewelery Design at the Parsons School of Design in New York and found her own atelier in 1989, where she started designing individual pieces.

Ring
Paper doily, String
CR XIIa Medallion
Paper doily, String

[images from Ela Cindoruk and text extracted from Turkish Design World.]

Ela Cindoruk is located at Atiye Sokak 14/5 Tesvikiye Istanbul, Turkey. For more information, visit Ela Cindoruk.

Nel Linssen

We are surprised we have not found Nel Linssen prior to this. His creations, inspired by rhythms and structues in the botanical world, arise intuitively in an empirical way. He challenges logical and technical constructions to transform paper from a tactile material into wearable objects.

Papieren Sieraden Paper Jewellery, 1990
Paper Necklace

Papieren Sieraden Paper Jewellery, 1986
Paper Necklace with elastic thread

[images and text extracted from Nel Linssen]

Nel Linssen is located at Groesbeekseweg 197, 6523 NS Nijmegen Holland; Tel:(024)323 1765. For more information, visit Nel Linssen.

via designboom

Kiwon Wang

Kiwon Wang was born in Korea and has been living in the United States. She graduated from Georgia State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in jewellery and metalsmithing and Rhode Island School of Design with a Master of Fine Arts. She has taught both at the Rhode Island School of Design and at Kookmin University in Korea.

Her works explore the meeting and interplay between materials and forms, methods, techniques and literature. She pushes the boundaries of these objects that adorn the body to create contrast, tension, absence and presence.

Sterling silver, newspaper, steel cable


[images and text extracted from Kiwon Wang]

Kiwon Wang is located at 526 West 26th Street, Suite 704, New York, NY 10001, USA; Tel: (212) 229 9332. For more information, visit Kiwon Wang.

via designboom

Marion van Cruchten

designboom recently published snapshots of a brilliant selection of jewellery. We showcase some of the choice picks created out of paper.

Marion van Cruchten is a Dutch designer who recently graduated from the Department of Jewellery and Product Design at the Academie of Fine Arts, Netherlands.

These paper bracelets are created from old supermarket coupons!

Revalue' series
Paper Bracelet
Revalue' series
Paper Bracelet

[images and text from Marion van Cruchten]
For more information, visit Marion van Cruchten

via designboom

Jum Nakao

Collection from São Paulo Fashion Week, 2004

Images by Sandra Bordim


Click images for larger view.

We were about to call it a day when we found out about Jum Nakao from our new craze Paper Studio. And are so excited we cannot wait till tomorrow to share.


Backstage of São Paulo Fashion Week, 2004

The paper collection is from Jum's 2004 São Paulo Fashion Week. We were in São Paulo in 2005 for the Architecture Biennale and barely missed the show. Created out of vegetable paper, the pieces are constructed using digital technology and hand-made techniques. Our favourite part of the show? The Playmobile headpiece. Awesome!


Details of the process, 2004

Making of São Paulo Fashion Week Collection, 2004

[images and text extracted from Jum Nakao.]

Jum Nakao is located at Rua Capitão Macedo, 371 cep 04021-020 São Paulo SP, Brasil; Tel: (55) 11 5579 0498. For more information, visit Jum Nakao's website, blog and flickr.

String Book

This is so simple yet very effective. One of those why-didn't-I-think-of-it things!

This clip is taken off the Youtube posting of Children's Publications Co. (CPL), a publisher from Taiwan that focuses on children's books, videos and merchandises. I do not think this is one of their books, but it is really good of them to share.

Hina Aoyama

Lettre de Voltaire, 2007


Paper Cutting of extacted text, 2007

Hina Aoyama, is a cutout artist, born in 1970 and based in France now. Hina works on her amazing creations with scissors!


Look at the intricacy of her cutting!

For more information, visit Hina Aoyama's website, blog, flickr and Youtube

Su Blackwell

Laissezfaire, one of our favourite blogs, told us about Su Blackwall and we so love her, we must share!


Birds, 2007
27cm X 32cm X 23cm


Betty in Cloudland, 2007
27cm X 50cm X 22cm

Paper is an accessible medium that has been used for communication since its invention. Su chose to engage this delicate material with irreversible and destructive processes. Her works reflect the precariousness of the world we inhabit and the fragility of life, dreams and ambitions.


Paper animation for Beringer Campaign, 2007

Su creates beautiful landscapes that feature nature and brilliant literary classics like The Secret Garden and Alice in Wonderland. Her intricate work emerging out of the books appear to release the trapped enchanment within, capturing the characters in a state of flux.


Do watch the Making of the Beringer Campaign!

[images and text from Su Blackwall. Thank you Su!]

For more information, visit Su Blackwall.

Make Your Own Book Art

Alternatively, we found suggestions of how to make your own book art from Grand Illusions.



UPDATE: Video removed from original site. Please watch it here.

Atelier Bomdesign

Moment nr 1, 2007
40cm (D) x 27cm (B), reused books


Tempest prototype, 2007
22cm x 20cm x 21cm

If you have been inspired by the paper magic we have been finding, here is something you can take home! We found these gorgeous Boeklampen from Bomdesign. The website is in Flemish, so we ran it through the translator.

Atelier Bomdesign is a design office, established in Rotterdam. It was set up in 1995, by the designers Michael Bom and Antoinet Deurloo. Both studied graphic design at Willem de Kooning Academie in Rotterdam. Bomdesign is an all-rounded design office, handling all facets of the design process including research, consultation, concept development, design and design production. Specially treating books into products is one of their cool creations! Purchase their Boeklampen designs here!

[images and text from Atelier Bomdesign.]

Atelier Bomdesign is located at Gerard Scholtenstraat 126, 3035 ST Rotterdam, Nederland; Tel: (31)01 0465 1922. For more information, visit Atelier Bomdesign.

Robert Ryan

Papercut Frame for Vogue (Japan), 2006
Click on image for larger view.

Don't know why we took so long to feature Rob Ryan. He is one of the first artists whose works got us crazy about paper!

Right: Papercut, 2007

Left:
Dress for Vogue (UK),
2007


Click on images for larger view.

Here is something wearable that Robert Ryan made for UK Vogue. The filigre is created out of his signature paper-cuts, which the artist, writer and film-maker has been craeting for years. Often depicting fantasy worlds of animals, hearts and flowers woven with phases and text, Rob visualises modern fairy tales that are mesmerising.

[images and text extracted from Rob Ryan.]

For more information, visit Rob Ryan's website and blog.

studio glow

Installation in the paper forest exhibition, 2007
Studio 2 and 36 of Open Studios, Somerville
paper pulp

studio glow is a sculpture collaboration between husband and wife, Robert Ostermeyer and Riki Moss . The couple work primarily with overbeaten Abaca paper pulp to create sculpture, installations and lighting that play with forces of wind, water, light and shadow. The amazing pulp material records rippling, undulating, and sometimes violently turbulent surfaces. Their eco-art is a response to the environment.

To the sculptors, light brings revelation. For their illuminated sculptures, light illuminates details of the dynamic structure and variegated skin. It enhances contrasting shadow tones that reveal the fiber plane surface and topographical characteristics of paper.


Details of illuminated sculpture, 2007
28" X 24", paper pulp, weed wacker mono-filament

[images and text from studio glow. Thank you Riki!]

Riki Moss can be contacted at 31 Townline Road, Grand Isle Vermont, 05458;
Tel: (802) 372 4182. For more information, visit Riki Moss and studio glow.

Crumpling

This is a video of crumpling recommended in the blog of paper sculptor Jade Pegler.


Watch a napkin transform!

Jade Pegler

origami crumpling, 2007
waxed paper


origami crumpling, 2007
waxed paper

Jade Pegler has the most amazing paper sculptures. We are very inspired by her crumpling works featured in her beautiful blog. Jade, born 1980 in Wollongong, graduated with a degree in Visual Arts from the University of Wollongong. Her work with paper and textiles combines a range of techniques including paper mache, bookbinding, hand and machine stitching, collage and origami.


Detail of work in progress for Nowa Nowa, 2007

Jade was the resident artist for Open For Inspection, Nowa Nowa, East Gippsland in 2007. The project involved making an installation with the help of the local community in an unoccupied and slightly derelict house over two weeks. In November 2007, the house was filled with installations and art by about 20 artists.

[images and text extracted from Jade Pegler]

For more information, visit Jade Pegler's website, blog and flickr.

molo design - soft collection

It is great to be back from holidays to receive amazing images and information from molo design about their soft collection, which I cannot wait to share.


softroom, 2007
paper

Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen, are the architecturally trained designers behind molo design's soft collection. soft is a collection of flexible honeycomb seating, walls, building blocks, that has grown to include entirely encosed rooms and housing -all expandable and collapsible. The collection started with the award-winning paper and textile softwall space partition, which originated from the desire for flexible and spontaneous space-making. Available in paper and kraft paper, soft has since developed to include a range in water and tear-resistant, non-woven textile material.


softseating, 2007
kraft paper

The collection features lightweight and readily recyclable materials that reflect age elegantly. The strength of the honeycomb geometry does not only offer economy of material resource, but even as the surface of the material softens, the product maintains its structural integrity.

[images and text provided by molo design. Thank you Anna!]

molo design is located at 1470 Venables Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V5L 2G7; Tel: (604)696 2501. For more information visit molo design.

Kirsten Hassenfeld

Installation of Dans la Lune, 2007
Commissioned by Rice University Art Gallery, Houston, Texas
Photography by Nash Baker
Mixed media - paper, polystyrene board, acrylic, pipecleaners, light fixture.



Details of Dans la Lune, 2007
Commissioned by Rice University Art Gallery, Houston, Texas
Photography by Nash Baker
Mixed media - Paper, polystyrene board, acrylic, pipecleaners, light fixture.

Kirsten Hassenfeld was born in Albany, New York and graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from The University of Arizona, Tucson in 1998. The New York based artist creates extravagantly decorated crystalline sculptures that are crafted predominantly from paper. Kirsten's painstakingly created works revamp precious objects with decidedly un-precious materials and varying scales, making fantasy tangible and calling to question the notion of preciousness. We especially love her delicate drawings which magically transfigure into enchanting 3D installations.


Mine, 2002
21” x 18”, Graphite and acrylic on mylar

[images and text extracted from Bellwether Gallery and Rice Gallery.]

For more information, visit Bellwether Gallery and Rice Gallery.

Sarah Mitchell

Book Experiments, 2007

Every once in a while I come across blogs and flickr that I just wish to feature every single image - Sarah Mitchell is certainly one of them. Born in 1983, the artist is based in Leeds, UK. She graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor of Fine Art Degree from Leeds Metropolitan University. She currently draws, makes books, makes prints, folds paper, recently sews and generally turns things she touches into beautiful things.


TOP: Cut out of tree silhouettes
MIDDLE: Fan Book, Spring Book, String Book, all 2007
BOTTOM: Cut out of trees silhouettes


Drawing of little plant, 2007

[images and text from Sarah Mitchell. Thank you Sarah!]

For more information, visit Sarah Mitchell's blog little paper bird and her flickr for more gorgeous inspirations.

Patty Eckman

Egg Watcher
6"x 6"x 4", sculpted from cast paper; edition of 100

Egg Watcher by Patty Eckman, is a cast paper sculpture of a humming bird perched on it's nest standing guard over two small eggs. The nest is placed between a tree branch and a small limb with leaves.

Patty Eckman is one half of Eckman Fine Art, the inventors of the trade marked Eckman Method® of cast paper sculpting. In 1988, Patty and Allen Eckman developed and perfected their chosen medium of cast paper sculpture. The Eckmans now reside in Rapid City, South Dakota. Their home and studio is in the beautiful Black Hills, where they find inspiration everywhere. The rich influence of nature is reflected in their beautiful works.

[image and text extracted from Eckman Fine Art.]

Eckman Fine Art is located at 222 Timberline Ct., Rapid City, South Dakota 57702; Tel:(605) 343 4252. For more information, visit Eckman Fine Art.

Flexible Love

FlexibleLove™ 16
64cm x 56cm x 22.5cm(Collapsed)/720cm(Extended), recycled materials (post-consumer recycled paper and post-industrial recycled wood)

I watched the designers of Flexible Love present their product on a Taiwanese variety show and really wish to share! The Flexible Love concept is an accordian, honeycomb structure, which can be stretched to seat as many as sixteen individuals. Made entirely from recycled materials the seating uses pre-existing production processes to reduce environmental impact during manufacture. currently, Flexible Love comes in 3 sizes that seats 16, 12 and 2. Excluding the miniaturised version. See the video below for the varieties of the system.




[images and text from Flexible Love. Thank you Mark!]

For more information, visit Flexible Love.

Ng Sek San

Cloud, 2007
Reused plans

Ng Sek San's installation, Cloud, was created for the Processing the City Exhibition held in Kuala Lumpur in June 2007. Through the works of artists and urban designers, the exhibition provided a platform to cultivate dialogue on today's urbanity and a different experience of the Malaysian City.

Sek San is a landscape architect based in Malaysia. He graduated with a postgraduate diploma in landscape architecture at Lincoln University, New Zealand in 1985. One of the leading landscape architects in Malaysia today, his work is rich in elements yet contemporary in spirit. The subversive nature of his practice allows Sek San to balance commercial reality with artistic play.

[images and text from Seksan Design]

Seksan Design is located at 67, Jalan Tempinis Satu, Lucky Garden, Bangsar, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Tel: (603) 2282 4611. For more information, visit Seksan Design.

Ferry Staverman

I found out about Ferry Staverman from a beautiful blog prettypretty.


Object cut from Bee board (a form of layered cardboard using laminate and recycled cardboard).


Object from Exhibition at Weekend Art Gallery Loolaan 49, 2007
Cut from Bee board

The website is in Flemish, so we ran the text through an online translator and gathered this much information. The Exhibition at the Weekend Art Gallery Loolaan 49, in Apeldoornwas was held in 2006 . Under the theme of Space Odyssey, Ferry Staverman studied the possibilities of spatial exploration. The objects created reflect a personal travel, where the artist developed the object and its surrounding space figuratively.

[images and text from Ferry Staverman.]

Ferry Staverman can be contacted at de Heze 38 7335 BD Apeldoorn; Tel: (31) 05 5541 8608. For more information, visit Ferry Staverman.

Sarah Brown

84 Hours, 2007
4.5cm x 10cm x 450cm unravelled, reclaimed paper, linen tape, linen thread

Sarah Brown is an artist and educator based in the UK. Her fascination with the traditional craft of bookbinding inspired an ongoing body of work aimed at raising awareness and profile of the craft. The artist engages with her materials like papers, threads, tapes, cloths and leathers by enforcing repetitive techniques such as embroidery, paper folding, cutting and traditional bookbinding.


Detail of 84 Hours, 2007

84 Hours reflects the working life of William Wood, a bookbinder who died in Newgate Prison in 1788, having served half of a two year sentence. He had been imprisoned for putting pressure on his master to reduce the working week by one hour; from 84 hours to 83 hours. A single book was bound from 6am until 8pm for 6 days, recreating William's working week. Sarah's work brings awareness to people across the globe still forced to endure these extreme working hours throughout their working lives.

[images and text extracted from Sarah Brown. Thank you Sarah!]

Sarah Brown's Attic Studio is located at 1129 Argyle Street, Glasgow, G3 8ND, UK; Tel: (44) 079 0568 5560. For more information, visit Sarah Brown.

Chris Natrop

Into the Silver See-through (Landing Nowhere else), 2006
20ft x 20ft x 14ft, watercolor, iridescent medium, green tea, tape on cut paper with thread and nylon netting

I learnt about Chris Natrop from laissezfaire, an all time favourite blog of mine!

Chris' work is a response to the unseen forces that shape lives. He uses "landscape" as a language to reshape hidden factors into explicit formations. The artist who graduated from B.F.A. School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1993, makes fleeting elements opaque by visualising the invisible. The results are ethereal creations that are hauntingly beautiful - familiar yet like nothing you have seen before. Oh, don't we love the seduction of the sublime.


Into the Silver See-through, 2006
30ft x 19ft, tape on cut paper with stainless steel nails


Detail of Fern Space Burst, 2004
10ft x 8ft x 8ft, hand cut paper, colored ink, watercolor, irredescent medium, thread, pushpins

[images and text extracted from Chris Natrop . Thank you Chris!]

Chris Natrop's Studio is located at 2121 N. San Fernando Ave, Unit #15, Los Angeles, CA 90065. For more information, visit Chris Natrop

Emma van Leest

Detail of Goddess as a Young Woman IV, 2006
Mixed Media

Born and based in Melbourne, Emma van Leest graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts) from RMIT in 2000. On completing her degree, Emma left for Indonesia to learn about Balinese and Javanese folk art. There, Emma studied the ancient art of shadow puppetry under a master puppeteer. Her Asiatic influence manifests in subject and technique in her works. Mesmerising, her intricate and visually complex works draws the viewer into her imaginative universe. Her extraordinary technical skills, enlivens a rich melting pot of imagery borrowed from a host of disparate sources – orientalism, the lives of saints, folk art, Hindu literature and the fairytale world of the Brothers Grimm. Emma is currently represented by John Buckley Fine Art, Richmond.



Village Murmurs, 2006
Mixed media

[images and text from Emma van Leest]

For more information, visit Emma van Leest.

Chris Kenny

Nonsuch (White Map Circle), 2007
24" x 24" x 3", constructed with map pieces

Chris Kenny was born in London and studied art history at the Courtauld Institute. He produces an unexpected kind of poetry with his three-dimensional constructions made from twigs, fragments of maps and strips of found text. Objects or phrases of the same type are mounted on pins and organised in a way that suggests an intention to rationalise the differences between them. Represented by England & Co, he will have recent works included in the gallery's December 2007 exhibition.

[image and text from England & Co]

For more information, visit England & Co.

Kylie Stillman

Semiformal, 2004
Carved on books


Ground Dwelling, 2006
Carved on 200 sheets of cartridge paper

I love blog days! It gives me legitimate reason to trawl through magazines and the web for beautiful works. I found Kylie Stillman in the November/December issue of Australian Vogue Living.

Kylie, born 1975, is a Melbourne-based artist, who completed her BFA Honours (Painting) at RMIT University in 1999. In 2000, she started a series of bird carvings on books. After a successful exhibition in 2005, she was granted three-month residency in the Australia Council's Milan studio, which sparked conception of larger scaled carving works. From earlier works which are small enough to hold in the hands to the large scale where the body can inhibit, Kylie has maintained intricacy and delicacy in her carvings.


Lovely Wren, 2005
Carved on book

[images and text from Kylie Stillman]

Kylie Stillman is represented by Utopia Art Sydney, located at 2 Danks Street, Waterloo, Sydney, Australia; Tel: (61) 2 9699 2900. For more information visit, Kylie Stillman.

Catherine Hammerton

Victoriana
Hand-printed paper, stitched with lace and paper birds

Catherine Hammerton is a London-based designer-maker, her work is defined by its handmade aesthetic, utilising traditional silk screen printing and hand embroidery combined with cutting edge digital technology. Inspired by a myriad of sources, Catherine's work explores her intuitive appreciation and approach to colour, texture and finish.


Fly Away
Hand-printed vintage wallpaper, cut with bird silhouettes

Good news for fans of Catherine's aesthetics, she will be launching her first "ready to wear" range of wallpaper at the Maison et Objet in January 2008. The new range will be available at a fraction of the cost of her bespoke collection! Stay tuned for updates of this collection at our mein™ design blog!

[images and text provided by Catherine Hammerton. Thank you Catherine!]

Miriam Londoño

Three Art Books, 2006
40x65cm; 40x60cm; 40x55cm, paper with cotton and linen fibers

Miriam Londoño has developed a unique technique that allows her to write out stretches of script. She has been using texts as visual objects and creates duality transforming by paper into words. Her creations are open and transparent to allow reading between the empty spaces, creating a visual play between contents, space and light.

Memories, 2005
40x60cm, paper with cotton and linen fibers

[images and text extracted from Miriam Londoño.]

Miriam Londoño can be contacted at Trompstraat 318, 2518 BS, The Hague, The Netherlands; Tel : (31) 7 0324 0636. For more information, visit Miriam Londoño.

Richard Sweeney

Icosahedron II, 2006
80cm, 200gsm cartridge paper, adhesive.

Richard Sweeney was born and raised in Huddersfield, England. He is inspired by the demonstration of art through engineered structure. He creates objects that are simple to construct yet complex in appearance, and are efficient in the way they are produced, both in terms of construction time and material use.

Richard uses paper modelling as a means to generate form. Emphasising on the creation of form through hands, he discovers properties of the paper medium in a direct way. Understanding the potential of paper in its own right, lead to the creation of these sculptural forms.

A series of sculptural works created through the cutting, scoring and folding of paper.

[images and text extracted from Richard Sweeney.]

Richard Sweeney can be contacted at Tel: (44) 078 2139 7004. For more information, visit Richard Sweeney.

Esma Pacal Turam

Spectators, 2002

Born 1963 in Istanbul, Esma Pacal Turam is a paper sculptor, whose works have been been inspired by architecture and people. She is constantly intrigued by inhabitants of large cities and enjoys watching the fast-flowing activity of urban life. She watches people while they watch the world go by. This paper marche clothes line, is an obervation of the city life which fascinaes her.Her mixture of paper with silicon has brought out the textured beauty of both materials.


Bend and Break in Silence, 2007

[images and text extracted from Esma Pacal Turam]

Esma Pacal Turam can be contacted at Turunç1 Mahallesi 2.Sokak No:11, Zekeriyaköy 34450 İstanbul, Turkey; Tel: (90) 21 2202 7470. For more information, visit Esma Pacal Turam.

Violise Lunn

Violise Lunn, born in 1969, graduated as a fashion designer in 1995 from a Design School in Denmark . She specialises in the design and making of one of a kind pieces of clothing for women. Her other passion is making unwearable items from the simplest textile of all: paper.

Finding perfect freedom in this material through sculpting figure silhouettes, angels and her favourite theme: shoes, she allows herself to play with otherwise impossible compositions. The artist divides her time between the two artforms and lets them feed each other with inspiration. Both expressions permit dreaminess and the search for perfection.

[image and text extracted from Violise Lunn. Thank you Voilise!]

Violise Lunn can be contacted at Gothersgade 54, Baghuset 1.Th, 1123 Copenhagen, Denmark, Tel: (45) 3311 2160. For more information, visit Violise Lunn.

Jennifer Collier

Book Dress
40x50cm to 70x100 cm, paper, machine embroidery.

Here is another gorgeous paper dress creation. It is the work of Jennifer Collier, who creates innovative textiles and craft pieces using natural and found materials. Through methods of weaving, waxing, trapping, embedding and stitching she creates unusual materials, which are developed into garments and accessories. Often inspired by literature, Jennifer's work is non-functional and aims to encourage people to speculate on the nature of value. Using the symbolic form of clothing, her work provokes thoughts about the fragility of the human body.

[image and text extracted from Jennifer Collier. Thank you Jennifer!]

Jennifer Collier can be contacted at Tixall Heath Farm, Tixall, Stafford ST18 0XX, UK; Tel: (44) 07 8 1146 0494. For more information, visit Jennifer Collier.

Elisabeth Lecourt

Instructions On How To Cry, 2003, © Elisabeth Lecourt 2003
30 x 42 cm, paper, pencil, crepe paper; in edition of 3
[image from Elisabeth Lecourt; photo © onepom/London 2003.]

I love this Crying Dress found in an instruction box by Elisabeth Lecourt. Since graduating from the Royal College of Art ( MA RCA, London) in 2001, Elisabeth Lecourt (French, born 1972, Oloron Saint Marie, France) is becoming a recognised contemporary artist. In 2004 she won the BIDA newcomer of the year.

Fantaisie, 2007,
© Elisabeth Lecourt 2003
3m, muslin, paper, wool, balloon and bones

This beautiful piece is Elisabeth's latest work, currently on show until 6 January 2008, at the Berendsen Gallery in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

[Thank you Elisabeth for sharing this!]

[images and text provided by Elisabeth Lecourt.]

For more information, visit Elisabeth Lecourt.

Sounds of Silence

Installation: Petra Eichler and Susanne Kessler
Light design: Herbert Cybulska, Gregor Roth
Sound design: Martin Bott

Sounds of Silence is a series of installations by Petra Eichler and Susanne Kessler, between October 2005 and December 2006. The series inaugurated with Sound 1, held at Weißfrauenstraße 12 (near Willy-Brandt-Platz) in October 2005, offering "the kind of silence people only dream of".

Watch a documentary (Quicktime 5.9 MB) of the installation here.

The installation works with the silent strength of the fragile. A forest clearing exchanges its familiar materiality and exposes its fragile and poetic side. Out of layers of white paper silhouettes, a natural landscape evolves. The visitors can move through the layers, but only slowly and carefully, otherwise the paper and the situation is torn apart. A light and sound collage immerses the space in a dawn-like atmosphere. Let the images speak for themselves.

At the invitation of Droog Design, Susanne Kessler and Petra Eichler designed an additional paper forest for the Milan International Furniture Fair in April 2006, which had five layers, each 16m x 3.26m.



sound 1 for Droog Design at the Milan International Furniture Fair 2006

The Hangaram Design Museum of the Seoul Arts Centers bought this forest for its collection and presented it at Designmade 2006.

[images and text extracted from Sounds of Silence]

UPDATE: The designers have recently completed a window display project for the Van Cleef & Arpels' flag ship store in Paris. Find the details at our mein™ design blog!


For more information, visit Sounds of Silence.

Lyn Randall

Lyn Randall designed this paper hanging for cho cho san, in vinyl or paper. Her wall hangings evoke stories that can be touched, smelled and traced under the gaze. She uses techniques that will always produce individual results, stitching sections of strategically-torn wall paper into a design which is then embossed over a repeat style pattern. Each section is then further layered with stitching, creating surfaces that are individual, but when put together form a coherent whole.

Lyn is constantly inspired by beauty in the unexpected, the delicacy of flaking paint on old doors, the intrigue of layered wallpapers in forgotten rooms, a rainbow of subtle colours in rusty iron work - the detail of the frequently overlooked. Her adoration of delicacy and detail, gives her works a natural purity that is produced from informed and thoughtful design.

[images and text extracted from Lyn Randall and cho cho san]

Lyn Randall can be contacted at Tel: (44)07 9 5719 2181. For more information, visit Lyn Randall and cho cho san.

Living Paper

This is an amazing animation. Watch paper come to life...

Polly Verity

Crumpling in Tissue Paper
[images from Polly Verity]

Polly Verity is an artist based in Edinburgh, Scotland. She sculpts, performs and is a member of experimental electronic band “i”, playing purpose built and modified instruments. Her paper sculptures are complex and varied. She creates patterns and shadows in her sculptures.



L-triomino/monomino aspects of the same fold.
[image from Polly Verity]



Royal Stag, 2007
[image from Polly Verity]

For more information, visit Polyscene and Polly Verity.

Zoe Bradley

Liberty's Christmas Window, 2004
[image from Zoe Bradley]



Mcqueen, S/S 1999
[images from Zoe Bradley]

Zoe Bradley is a showpiece designer based in London. Her creations are dramatic and sculptural. Bradley has coordinated and produced the showpieces for McQueens S/S 99 collection and also Michiko Koshino's S/S 05 and A/W 05 collection.



On/Off Art exhibition, February 2006
[images from Gina X]

She created a memorable piece for the On|Off Art Exhibition in February 2006. On/Off takes place twice a year during London Fashion Week in February and September. organised and managed by Doll Creative Events Agency, the event takes place at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Zoe Bradley can be contacted at G105 Old Truman Brewery 91 Bricklane London. For more information, visit Zoe Bradley.

Peter Callesen

The Impossible Meeting (detail), 2005
Acid-free A4 80 gsm paper and glue



Distant Wish (detail), 2006
Acid-free A4 115 gsm paper and glue



Cradle (detail) , 2006
Acid free A4 115 gsm paper and glue

Peter Callesen was born 1967 in Denmark. His paper works have lately been based around an exploration of the relationship between two and three dimensionality. His collection of works on A4 sheets of paper are amazing. Identifying A4 paper as the most common and consumed media and format for carrying information today. Callesen perceives the A4 paper material as something very loaded, yet the actual materiality of which is rarely noticed. By removing all the information and starting from scratch using blank white 80gsm A4 paper as a base for his creations, he has found a material which, on one hand, we all are able to relate to, and which on the other hand is non-loaded and neutral and therefore easier to fill with different meanings. The thin white paper also gives the paper sculptures a fragility which underlines the tragic and romantic theme of the works.

[images and text extracted from Peter Callesen]

Peter Callesen can be contacted at Ved Linden 4, 3. tv, DK-2300 København S, Denmark; Tel:(45) 3323 8707 / (45) 2872 6521. For more information, visit Peter Callesen

Detour - the Moleskine City Notebook Experience

Some of the most amazing inspirations comes from sketchbooks. The raw ideas conveyed, coupled with the intimate experience of looking at other people’s notebooks is very satisfying.



Abigail Hunt trained at Loughborough University School of Art and Design and now lives and works in London. Her work often uses text and books and relies on the need for repetitive process, yet continually questions notions of finite detail and artistic integrity. Recent pieces have seen whole books cut meticulously into fine strips and others, hand cut into delicate patterns.





Chris Dent is an illustrator fascinated by city environments. He uses a range of intricate mark making, creating energetic visions of city life. Chris recently graduated from Camberwell College of Arts where he gained a BA in Illustration. Chris is the co-founder of a new collective called HYBRID BUNNY – a group of illustrators and designers which is responsible for icy2.com, a project for all illustration students at Camberwell College of Arts to show off their portfolios.


Detour, is an exhibition of 70 illustrated Moleskine notebooks. This unique show took place at four separate sites - making a path through central London, in 9-22 October 2006. Curated by Raffaella Guidobono, the notebooks’ authors kindly participated to the Detour exhibition supporting lettera 27. lettera 27 is a nonprofit foundation encouraging the right to literacy, education, and access to knowledge and information.

For more information, visit Detour, Moleskine and lettera27.

Paper

Paper is a banal material, which is common enough for everyone to relate with, yet neutral enough to be given a new lease of life. It is the perfect blank canvas.