As many of the fans to this art blog already know, I'm deeply impressed by paper artists. Using the most common of materials, they create stunning works of art. Today's artist takes paper cutting to a very high level.
Masayo "Kiriken" Fukuda was born in Japan, studied art in college and went to work as watch repairer. Along the way, she learned how to manipulate tiny tools such as screwdrivers and tweezers, That experience plus the gift of excellent hand dexterity, would lead to the extraordinary mastery of "kirie."
Kirie is Japanese for "cut-picture." Fukuda started as a teenager cutting out greeting cards for her friends and family. She found that the cards were too thick to make for easy cutting. She experimented and refined her techniques.
Today, she sketches on a single sheet of very thin paper, As if that fact isn't enough, she's also taken the art of kirie to an even higher level.
Most kirie is flat two-dimensional. Fukuda creates the appearance of the final piece as having depth. This method requires her to sketch on the back of the paper, just as a printer, on the reverse. Furthermore, to continue the look of depth, she varies the thickness of the cut lines. This is all remarkable and very unusual.
Her lyrical, lacy art has been shown in throughout Japan and at the Louvre in Paris. She also has made YouTube videos of her techniques and a book.
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