Butterfly Project, An Installation by Rosemary Burden

March 18, 2013

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the opening reception for Ruminations of Order at Cityscape Gallery in North Vancouver. This is a group show featuring the work of four artists exploring pattern and repetition, among other things. It’s a really fantastic show, but the work that stood out most strongly for me were two installations made from paper by Rosemary Burden.

Working with volumes of antique books she has meticulously created a staggering amount of paper butterflies using a paper punch. The overall impact of this mass of paper gives the viewer a sense of wonder. It’s really something to see.

Both installations include the original book cover, which is a really nice touch. I would love to create a paper installation on a similar scale someday.

There is an artist talk happening this Saturday March 23rd, and the show continues on until April 13th. Read more about Ruminations of Order on the gallery website.

Cut Paper Typography

March 14, 2013

I’ve long admired the work of Elsa Mora, a Cuban artist living in LA who works in various mediums including paper cutting. I was looking at her website earlier this week as a way to jog my thinking on how to write about my own paper cut work, and came across her new site, Art Is A Way.

It’s a lovely little side project of creating artwork using the word Art, and she’s invited people to join her. I don’t normally have much interest in exploring typography in my own work, but the project inspired me to experiment with typography created in my style of cut paper.

I chose a font in photoshop, Tamil NM in bold, made it large enough to nicely fill an 8.5″ x 11″ page and printed it out. I used this as a template to trace the outline of the letters first and then freehand cut all shapes. It was really fun to do, and has me pondering more potential work using type.

If you’re interested in creating your own work of the word Art, check out the about page of Art Is A Way for details.

Early Signs of Spring

March 13, 2013

A few photos taken last week when it was sunny, warm, and felt like spring was about to begin.

Cut Paper and Structural Explorations Continue

March 11, 20132 Comments

I realize as I work on these structural paper cut pieces that I am exploring two very different things and trying to make them work together. It’s one thing to make a paper cut design that will be displayed as flat and in a frame, and quite another to translate it into a free-standing sculpture. I’m also trying to work out how to make interesting structures from paper that can support themselves when most of the material has been removed.

With this latest piece I was trying to take a slightly different approach than the previous work I finished last week, but I ended up creating the same structure, just with a different paper cut design.

The variation I attempted with this was to score the bottom and sides to create folds in the paper. I don’t quite have enough understanding about how to do this, so my folds didn’t work the way I thought they should. I was also going to taper the structure at the top and attach it together but threw that idea out the window as well.

I want to play around with structural explorations on their own without doing all the work of cutting paper, just to properly educate myself. But the paper cutting makes a big difference to the integrity of the piece, how it holds together, and its ability to stand.

Just in case you’re wondering, the finished size for this one is 8″ high, 6″ wide, and 3″ long. I hope I can eventually make something even larger.

Seek Out Inspiration

March 8, 2013

Be Your Own Beloved wrapped up last week, and by the end I managed to shoot twenty out of the twenty-eight self portrait assignments. It’s challenging to show up for something like this every day because I’m not often in the mood to take a photo of me.

Taking Up Space

Part of a Bigger Story

I am very happy with the ideas I came up with for each theme. I managed to keep things interesting and creative despite the limited time I had to work on these each day.

This puppy wanted to be in the picture too

Out of Focus

I wasn’t feeling very motivated or inspired before the course began but it was just the thing to get me energized and creating new work. It really pays to shake things up sometimes and take workshops with other creative people in order to seek out a new source of inspiration.

The Box As Cut Paper

March 5, 2013

Last week was mostly spent on administrative tasks but at the end of the week I fit in time to work on another cut paper sculpture.

I kept the form simple and made a basic cube with two of the sides left long. I’d had in mind to have these two long flaps eventually connect together but things went in a different direction as I worked.

I chose a leaf as the repeating shape and cut away most of the paper on four sides, leaving the bottom uncut. I decided to contour the top and sides of the box by cutting away the straight edges of the paper. It makes the whole thing seem even more delicate.

I left a thin border of paper around the sides and attached these together with glue. The finished size is about 5.5″ tall, 4″ wide, and 4″ long.

I’m really pleased with this prototype. I actually feel ready to move onto creating finished work.

The Icebook

March 4, 2013

Last week I had the pleasure of seeing a wonderful performance of The Icebook, a miniature theatre show made of paper and light. This live theatre show was created by Davy and Kristin McGuire, and presented by Boca Del Lupo as part of their micro-performance series on Granville Island.

The set is a small pop-up book of paper cutouts combined with incredible lighting and video projection. Watch the video below to get a taste of the show.

The Icebook (HD) from Davy and Kristin McGuire on Vimeo.

Thank you to Siobhan for the heads-up about this show. I would’ve missed it otherwise, and what a shame that would’ve been.

Gutter Snipes I, by Cal Lane

February 27, 2013

Yesterday I did a bit of gallery hopping around town with a friend, something I very badly needed to do. One of our stops was to visit Grunt Gallery, which is currently showing work by Cal Lane. She creates an illustrative style of cut metal sculptures using reclaimed industrial materials.

I was so taken with the installation, Gutter Snipes, that I forgot to photograph the other pieces in the gallery. The work is cut paper translated into metal on a grand scale. Something I hope to eventually achieve.

The installation is lit from the inside and amazing shadows are cast on the wall above. It is large enough to walk through.

Gutter Snipes I is on display at Grunt Gallery until March 23rd, 2013. I highly recommend you go see it.

Structural Paper Cutting

February 26, 2013

After I finished the paper cut pyramid last week I began to work on a second piece with a different approach to making something three dimensional. Instead of creating the structure from a single sheet I used scraps of paper cut into triangles of different sizes, two as sides, and one as a bottom piece. I wanted to cut the design first and then attach the paper together afterwards.

I spent a lot of time cutting paper and not so much on determining the structure, but I wanted to see how well pieces of paper can support themselves when most of the material is cut away. It sags of course, especially on the sides that are unattached. I would need to include more structural support if translated into a larger scale.

It’s a lovely piece, and I think the shadows are an integral part of it.

For the next prototype I will do less with paper cutting and focus more on structure just to see where this will take me. Stay tuned.

Self-Exploration Through Self Portraiture

February 25, 2013

It’s been an interesting experience the last few weeks to maintain my commitment to the Be Your Own Beloved e-course. I don’t mind taking a self portrait every once in awhile, but doing it every day is tedious. At least that’s how I normally feel about it. But with Vivienne‘s daily email prompts of inspiration to guide me, it makes it easier to get it done. She always provides something personal to reflect upon, as well as a place to start to come up with an idea to shoot for the day.

I really like the work I’ve been creating, and through this series I’ve come to realize I am process oriented even with my photography. The ideas come as I work, rather than being fully formed from the beginning.

Day 18

Day 21

Day 22

The creative aspects of this project aside, it’s made me realize a few things about myself. Mostly that I’m not very good at self-care, or about being good to myself. The intensity of the stuff that has come up out of this has really surprised me, but I am determined to create more awareness around this and make changes.

There are just a few days left of the course. I think I will miss the daily excuse to come up with an idea to photograph.

More of the self portraits can be found on Flickr.

Canvas to the Imagination

Rachael Ashe – Art | Craft | Life