For those followers of my art blog, you know how fascinated I am of what artists can do with the most widely used material such as paper. Such an artist is Ayumi Shibata from Yokohama, Japan.
Shibata takes paper cutouts to another level. She creates dimensional paper art from pieces so small they can be held in the hand to pieces so large that they can include an adult person!
Her largest pieces can require over 100 pieces of paper. Her smallest pieces were made to fit inside of a glass vessels in a series she titled, "The Jar." Using lighting, the depth of the paper layers enhances the piece.
For Shibata, her works are an expression of "kami." In the Japanese language means "god," "spirit" and also "paper." With these spiritual inspirations in mind, she outlines the paper with a pencil before she begins to cut out the design freehand. As she stated:
"White paper expresses the yang, light and the process of cutting expresses the yin or shadow. I cut out works while imbuing my wish that we can coexist without forgetting our gratitude and awe for all things and nature that support our lives."
