Papercraft Introduction

Papercraft Introduction

This week I was re-introduced to the concept of paper-craft as a form of art. Paper-craft is the creation of two or three dimensional artwork using cut paper as the primary of only medium of the artwork. 

Generally, people who have not extensively studied this field of art will think about origami when asked to consider what paper-craft is, and I was certainly no exception. Therefore, I was incredibly impressed by Cybèle Young, a world-renowned artist who uses paper-craft as her primary medium. Cybèle has published several books with illustrations made with paper, as well as having shown work at galleries around the world, like New York or Japan. 

                        Cybèle's work seems to revolve around the concept of change, which is seemingly paradoxical theme for a art form such as paper, being such a difficult and fragile material to handle. She makes use of everyday objects, slowly abstractifying and then redefining the object into an entirely separate entity. In her own words, "Engaging with abstract and familiar motifs, I juxtapose sculptures to create a sense of dialogue of play between them." She's done this with several objects, changing a violin case into a Starfish, an umbrella into a jellyfish, and even earphones into a caterpillar. 

The 'finished' product is always some organic form or mass as well. Some of her transformations don't always take on a species of animal or plant, sometimes the form is completely abstractified into an unrecognizable state, yet still seemingly organic. And when Cybèle does create structural shapes and everyday objects, they look frighteningly like the real thing. It is almost as if the paper could be a substitute towards the actual object.

The blogpost on Cybèle caught my attention immediately, since I tend to be drawn to any imaginative creatures or monstrosities that artists can conjure up. Originally I was slightly disappointed that I wasn't going to be seeing any weird Lovecraftian creatures in the blogpost, but I was really captivated by the detail and depiction of creatures that aren't often seen in your standard art gallery. The sculptures that were intended to be seen as another creature had a sense of life in them, as if one could imagine them as an actual creature if you weren't looking properly.

Going through her website I was astounded to discover the variety of art forms Cybèle had worked on, ranging from lanterns to small mills, all the while keeping her original theme of "forming new relationships". In this age where art is able to take so many different forms, I find Cybèle is able to hold onto the core ideals of her sculptures, and is one of the few 'sincere' artists in the valley of artists I find are more and more focused on making money with their pieces rather than genuine art. It gave me breath of fresh air, and a sense of optimism about the direction that the art industry was headed towards. 

Update on Last week: 

Just to let everyone know, I finally managed to get my computer back early Sunday evening, and I really wanted to make some parts better, so I will upload it by the end of today.*

*right, i can't download rhino... Guess i'll finish the blog and the piece and put the pics on tommorow...