Cutting into the Infinite

In the beginning of the spring of 2017, I started experimenting with paper cut art. I am aware that paper cutting has been a craft and art form for hundreds of years. In fact, according to Wikipedia's page on Papercutting, "Paper cut art appeared during the Han Dynasty in 4th century AD after the Chinese official, Cai Lun invented paper in 105 AD. The oldest surviving paper cut out is a symmetrical circle from the 6th century Six Dynasties period found in Xinjiang China."

Sonja Peterson cut-out piece from her show
'Transverse Travesties', Purdue University,
Spring 2017. 

My initial source of inspiration was seeing Sonja Peterson's exhibit called 'Transverse Travesties' at the Robert L. Ringel Gallery in the Steward Center at Purdue University, IN, in March or April of 2017. I reacted intensely to the lace-like intricacies, patterning, and merging of space due to the flattened silhouetted shapes of her subject matter. Additionally, I was impressed with the abundance of narrative accessible in such a conceptually simplistic art form. Obviously, the simplicities inherent in these pieces are owed to the materiality; being simply paper and Exacto blades. However, this simple medium generates the substructure for a highly complex method of image production. The ability to see through the pieces gave the work a fantastical element. In my mind, the work also harks back to Victorian silhouettes and, later, early 20th century children's illustration such as Arthur Rackham's illustrations for Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty.

I instantaneously yearned to try my hand at paper-cutting, as I felt as if I had found an answer to my problem with space. The problem being: how do I construct a visual environment which serves as a synthesis of three-dimensional reality and two-dimensional flatness? I have used patterning in the past to serve as a placeholder in the quest for the answer to this predicament. 

 I feel that this marks the beginning of an exciting new addition to my work. I intend to continue to render parts of my drawings in a more volumetric manner, such as seen in the self-portrait below. The fusion of spaces creates an environment which is unstable and unpredictable, yet at the same time harmonious and interconnected. It is due to the addition of these unconventional spaces (a flattened liminal space, a volumetric analogous space, and a cut-out infinite space) that these drawing have a unique magical leverage in the sphere of contemporary art. 

I, Hermit, Mixed-media and Cut-out on Paper, May 2017. © Emily Babette