Papercraft Research
Megan Janett
OBDF 110
Layered Paper Art
The artists that I was inspired by were Deepti Nair and Harikrishnan Panicker who create light boxes out of layered cut paper. The create scenes within a shadow box in which they use LED strips to light it from behind. When lit these pieces turn from seemingly flat images to playful scenes of people, monsters, sea creatures and other things.
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/03/ illuminated-cut-paper-light-boxes-by-hari-deepti/ |
To my understanding these piece are created using many layers of paper to create a scene. the more paper you add the darker the image will be when lit. The only problem I have with this type of paper art is that they aren't that interesting to look at when there is no light coming from behind the layered paper. The images tend to look flat and since it is all the same color, everything tends to blend together. I think that the most difficult part of layered paper is trying to figure out where each object should be placed and in what layer. The object that you would want to appear the farthest would have to be placed first so that is lighter. You also need to be quite precise so that everything lines up not only at the edges of the box but the scene that is being played out inside as well.
![deepti-2](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/deepti-21.jpg)
![004](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/0041.jpg)
When looking at the other work that Deepti Nair has created, she takes the same idea of layering paper out of the light box concept. Instead of just using one color of paper she uses multiple to create that sense of depth. In her piece The Protector she used a single piece of white paper for the background that had a circle cut from it. The paper she placed within the circle became the background and the paper on top become the foreground.
Looking at the artworks they have created, the pieces above are quite small compared to what they normally do. On their website, the have cut paper pieces taller than a person! When i think of cut paper I always imagine small pieces, but they took it a step further and made massive pieces with the same, if not more detail.
https://cargocollective.com/iratherdraw/The-Protector |
I think it would be fun to play around with the idea of a light box, but instead of having everything being flat pieces of paper I could have a 3-D object reaching out from the center instead. This will allow of the light box to be more clearly read whether it had light or not. What I also like about this form of paper art is that most of the shapes aren't too complicated, especially round the edges and I find that this forces the eye inward to the more intricate objects at the center. I think that by combining different aspects from these pieces I could create a really interesting piece. What i have in mind right now is to have my main subject matter be a 3-D object that is made from colored paper and have the scenery in the background be just white paper. I don't know if i want to have it in a light box protruding outwards or to make it a free standing object and use cut paper as a background. In the past I have created art through paper cutting, but i never had to think about making it have a sense of depth or being a physical object. Before I just cut small designs into one piece of paper to create a flat portrait. I think it will be interesting to figure out how to make a seeming flat looking object into a 3-D one.
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