Paper art

As a letterpress artist, paper constitutes a rather important part of my livelihood. While I value its weight and texture, it is still merely a canvas for my creations. I find it rather interesting that the artists below have used the paper itself as their media, with rather awe-inspiring results.

British artist Richard Sweeney revels in the hands-on manipulation of everyday materials. Handling them, he can find new ways of interpreting the media while taking advantage of their intrinsic properties. While his explorations range widely in scale, they are all beautifully architectural.

Peter Callesen of Denmark is best known for creating paper art out of single A4 sheets, though he sometimes uses larger media. Callesen believes that the frailty of the paper underlines the tragic nature of the pieces, as does the fact that the sculptures are able to inhabit the space around them but without the possibility of escape from the sheet they have been cut.

Russian graphic designer Yulia Brodskaya constantly pushes herself to try new styles and media. Her passion however, remains constant, typography.


British artist, Su Blackwell creates eerily beautiful and delicate scenes out of book pages. Like Peter Callesen above, she explores the idea of her characters and scenes being bound to the books they have been cut out of. She instills a sense of urgency and fragility to the pieces, which is underlined by the destructive process by which the scenes are created.

Pratt alum, Kako Ueda has been "cutting paper" for the past five years. Her painstakingly elaborate pieces are simply breathtaking. She mainly deals with organic imagery: insects, animals and human bodies. Simultaneously morbid and beautiful, these large installations are an extrapolation from the kimono stencils of her native Japan.