By Alyssa Dyar
The art of paper cutting has been around nearly as long as paper. Cultures from all over the world use paper cutting as a form of expression and decoration. In Mexico artisans make banners with colorful tissue paper and small chisels or scissors. In Ukraine, Poland, and Belarus, vytynanky (or wycinanki) is a celebrated art form with layers of cut, bright paper and holiday motifs.
In most any part of the world, from past to present, you will find a rich history of paper cutting, which piqued my curiosity. I wanted to learn more about practicing this international art form.
To begin, I did some research on paper cutting. I looked through the Hamilton East Public Library’s collection to find books about paper cutting and to help me brainstorm ideas for a paper cutting project. After looking through many books, like The Art of Paper Cutting by Henya Melichson and Paper Cutting Book (both available on Hoopla), I chose two books that set me on my path: Paper Cuts: 35 Inventive Projects by Taylor Hagerty and Papercutting by Claudia Hopf.
Paper Cut Lantern
I decided to make a lantern adapted from a lantern project in Paper Cuts using motifs from Papercutting. The results were pretty illuminating! If you’d like to give a paper-cut lantern a try, you’ll need the following materials:
- Paper
- Craft knife (like an x-acto)
- Cutting mat (You can also use cardboard or poster board.)
For more paper-cutting inspiration, watch artist Hiromi Moneyhun discuss how she got started paper cutting below.
Another contemporary paper-cut artist you might find interesting is Thomas Witte. See how he uses photographs to make beautiful paper-cut designs.
If you can’t quite get the hang of paper cutting by hand, but you love the look of paper-cut decorations, consider reserving one of Ignite’s two Cricut machines. You can learn more about making a paper lantern with a Cricut at Laura’s Crafty Life.