Netherlands-based paper artist and set designer Layla May Arthur uses her love of storytelling to inspire her intricate and whimsical dioramas.

Using the combination of light and shadow armed with paper and a sharp scalpel, Layla’s three-dimensional scenes create moody and romantic settings from small-scale works and larger immersive installations where people can interact with the creations and act as characters within the paper landscapes.

Her background in set design helped Layla build scenarios and moments that feel both real and dreamlike simultaneously. 

Each incision is carefully thought out, for the best angle and pattern to play with the light used in the artwork. “I love being able to create an artistic experience which is part of every day and highlights the possibilities of craftsmanship,” she says.

READ MORE: Local Art Exhibitions: What to See in 2023

The art of storytelling is as prominent in the works as the physical piece itself. “Within my installation I act as the storyteller, sculpting the environment with hand-cut paper and light,” she elaborates on her website. I” invite you to become the listener within my storytelling experience. A listener interprets a tale based on the stories they already know. I encourage you to re-invent my narratives, finding connections with tales familiar to you and merging your stories with mine.”

Watch Layla’s creative process on her Instagram page, here.

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Local home decor and design brand Mo’s Crib, headed up by Morongwe ‘Mo’ and Michelle Mokone, is behind the creation of these hand-made swan sculptures, a range of which the duo has made exclusively for VISI.

Last year we launched these origami-inspired swan sculptures in four different colourways, and they sold out in a flash! We’ve got good news for all of those who never managed to get their hands on these creations in 2020. We’ve launched a new limited collection of Mo’s Crib Paper Swan Sculptures just in time for the gifting season.

The paper sculptures measure at 135mm (B) x 110mm (W) x 190mm (H) and are made from upcycled paper.

It takes about six hours to make one sculpture by hand: cutting and folding paper before putting the swan together and sealing it with glue for shine and strength. The glazed finished product, which is both durable and multifunctional, is an ideal and creative storage solution.

Currently available via the VISI Shop in four colourways – Grey & Cream, Grey & Yellow, Orange & Pink and Pink & Orange – with more colourways coming soon.

VISI Shop: Mo’s Crib Paper Swan Sculptures

Available in four limited edition colours.

*This collab is no longer available.

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Referencing the concept of “if it fits I sits”, Korean designer Taesung Yoon has created Pulpet, a DIY paper cat house for your feline companions.

Made from eco-friendly paper cutouts, Pulpet is handcrafted and assembled in the shape of a geometric sitting cat. The flat-packed pieces need no other parts to assemble the final form. Taesung came up with the idea when realising the joy that is brought through cats sitting and playing in boxes, for both owners and the cats.

The paper is FSC-certified material harvested from responsibly managed and environmentally conscious forests. The material does not puncture if clawed and is durable enough to withstand some rough-and-tumble. It also contains lightfast technology, so it won’t bleach and fade in direct sunlight, and has a neutral, PH and a chlorine-free bleaching pulp, which is safe for cats, humans and the environment.

Love this? Check out these amazing paper artworks by Artist Morongwe Mokone and Korean paper artist and graphic designer Lee Ji-hee.

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From furry digital paintings of classic artworks and local contemporary art to house plants made from paper, these are the top VISI picks of the week series – week 354.

1. Murat Yıldırım’s Furry Digital Paintings

Turkish artist Murat Yıldırım recreates famous works of art, from Edvard Munch’s The Scream to Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, giving the pieces a tactile, furry appearance. He recreates the paintings digitally, altering their appearance to look as though they’re made from flowing hair.

Image credit: Murat Yıldırım via designboom.com.

2. PAPERSYNTHESIS

PAPERSYNTHESIS is a paper floral studio established by Singapore-based paper artist Mabel Low. She was inspired to craft plants and flowers from paper after she found herself struggling to keep her houseplants alive.

Image credit: papersynthesis.com

3. Video: Factory Visit: Muuto’s The Dots

In this video, designer ‎Lars Tornøe explains the process behind the creation of his renowned coat hooks for Muuto, known as The Dots. Designed to work as a collection, in different colours and sizes, The Dots are both functional and aesthetically pleasing. The Dots are available locally through Créma.

Video courtesy of Créma

4. Portraits by Driekie van Wyk

Intrigued by the mysteriousness of facial expressions, Cape Town-based contemporary artist Driekie Van Wyk paints striking, colourful portraits using a combination of bold strokes and a pallet knife. Follow @driekieartist on Instagram to see more of her work.

Images courtesy of Driekie van Wyk and Saatchi Gallery

5. KAMERS Blaauwklippen

KAMERS/MAKERS is running their first show of 2020 at Blaauwklippen in Stellenbosch, showcasing 150 local makers and artisans. There will be strict COVID protocols in place. Here are the details:

• The show starts on Friday 23 October 2020 and runs for an extended 10-day period – this is in order to spread the daily crowds out over a longer period.
• Trading hours: Sunday – Thursday from 9am – 3pm; Friday and Saturday from 9am – 6pm
• A cashless system will be in operation.
• Tickets must please be bought online in order to allow the KAMERS team to monitor daily attendance in advance. You will be able to purchase tickets at the gate, but if the show is very busy, online tickets get priority so you may need to wait a few minutes for people to leave before being allowed in.
• Reduced ticket prices: R60 online; R80 at the gate. This includes a KAMERS/Makers shopper bag, plus a Consol water bottle.
• COVID Protocols – no mask, no entry. There will be sanitisers at the main entrance. Numbers in certain marquees will be controlled to ensure adequate distancing.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGWz997g7zZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Images and video courtesy of KAMERS

Browse more articles like VISI Picks of the Week Series – Week 354 on picks of the week 139.

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US-based, Nigeria-born visual artist ruby onyinyechi amanze, who is represented locally by Goodman Gallery, creates large-scale mixed-media drawings on paper.

Here, VISI chats to her about creativity, collaborations and how dance, architecture and design influence her work.

What do you love about being creative?

Hmmm… this might seem odd, but I love how tiring it is. Tiring in the sense that it doesn’t end and you just have to keep going. You feed it and it asks for more. But that’s the joy! Kerry James Marshall said, ‘inspiration is generated by work’. I believe that. To be creative…to be an artist is a commitment. And there’s responsibility in it. Not necessarily to others, although they do factor in at some point, but to the craft itself. To being honest and staying curious. You can’t know all the answers and that’s exciting. It’s like you have this gift – the initial skill or love or desire – and it continues to grow the more you allow the unknown. I love the possibility of the future and how big it is. Some things have caps to them. Ceilings. But not creativity. You get to be a child forever. There’s a purity to it. And simultaneously you get to watch the developments grow into things you couldn’t have imagined. Then you do it all over again… and again… and again, until you die!

In what way do dance, architecture and design influence the worlds you create on paper?

Dance appears in two ways. I often reference dance/dancers in the forms themselves. The positions and interactions of the ada and audre [a leopard and an alien] are pulled from stills of dancers performing. I look for moments of tension, balance, an awkward beauty and intimacy. I want a feeling of movement in the work… I want the viewer to gaze in and out of the space. Dance is a portal for that. Secondly, I’m dancing and choreographing as I draw. I am negotiating relationships between objects to create a composition… a feeling… an essence of a place. I am concerned with beauty and timing, gesture and mark. I respond and initiate. While drawing, my body physically moves left, right, pivots, pauses. I crash some things and let others meet tenderly. I’m thinking of dance constantly.

Architecture. Constructing/ed spaces. Again, both as reference images – windows, doors, the suggestion of a floor meeting the wall – in the process of building a drawing and considering how one will inhabit the space.

Design. I’d love to be called a designer. That I’m designing drawings. It automatically removes some of the pressures of narrative – which I’m not interested in anymore. I’m not a storyteller (even though I am). I’m an organiser and a poet, which to me is design. I have seven elements to work with – the paper, windows/architecture, birds, ada (fka ada the Alien), audre (fka audre the Leopard), bikes and swimming pools. The configurations are endless and that’s where design comes into play.

Detail: Swimming Pools (Diver)

What do you enjoy most about working on paper?

So many things! I worked with fabric for a very long time and then seamlessly transitioned to paper in grad school. They feel like the same thing somehow – fabric and paper. Both absorb actions, they hold memories like skins. They’re strong and fragile all at once. They’re living and breathing.

In the moment of drawing, maybe I most enjoy the surface. I draw on a heavy-weight, cold pressed, machine-made, white, 100% cotton paper. In the past I’ve enjoyed somewhat of the opposite – light, translucent, handmade, textured and never white paper. Though I can’t imagine drawing on that now, I still love it.

I’ve learned a lot about the medium and I do think of it as such – a medium – and not just as an arbitrary surface. It’s as much a part of the drawing as the drawing itself. They work together… we all work together. I guess I’ve spent a lot of time on the page now! Laying on it, sitting on it… we’ve become quite intimate. I love the way it feels in my hands and in conversation with a pencil or with ink. I enjoy the vibrancy that’s possible, but also the subtlety. I can hide secrets in it and then there are things that happen that I can’t escape.

Paper feels like a wizard. A wise and old trickster that is both gentle and ruthless.

Pas de Deux

What do you feel is your greatest achievement to date?

So, I read this and immediately clenched my teeth… I have no idea! I try not to think in those terms. I’m as ambitious as the next person and as an athlete, quite competitive (with myself). But I stay rooted in the fact that I have to just do the work – that’s my forever job. To show up and be honest. How that’s measured beyond the studio can, of course, feel amazing, but on the other hand, it doesn’t matter – I’ll still do what I need to/have to do, regardless. There are many things or places I’m yet to reach. I can see and feel them and that, for the moment, feels like enough. The visualisation of it, can be quite satisfying! I think for now, I’ll just say, I’m here. I can be counted. I have integrity. And I’m not going to leave. That’s an accomplishment.

If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be, and why?

Ooooh, there are so many brilliant minds I’d love to create with. Through written words, Akwaeke Emezi. I’d love to be a back-up dancer for singer and musician EL Tsid. Or to sing a song with Terence Nance. Choreograph and dance with Mor Mendel or Emilee Lord. Co-chef with __________ (?). I have an ongoing relationship with Wura-Natasha Ogunji. She’s my art wife and our paths will continue to intersect.

Maybe the question was visual art centered, but when I think of collaboration I think of all the creative outlets. Things I don’t generally have access to in my drawing-based studio practice. I’m connected to all of the artists above and to these various other worlds of expression. I just want to visit their worlds. Be challenged. Expand… and then come right back to the drawings. Magical things happen when artists come together ‘cause we see things differently, but there can be lovely parallels across forms.

Do you have any exciting projects coming up that you can share?

I’m working on a commissioned piece for the Collezione Maramotti in Italy. They showcase artists at pivotal points in their career… encouraging them to create a work that ‘takes risk’. I have time to think and to push the work. It’s a privilege to have support in that way – both for what you’ve already done and for what the work can become. There’s room there, which is a little scary, as well exciting. Plus, it’s not a gallery so certain boundaries are gone. I’ll be making a multi-layered drawing that’s approximately nine-metres wide. I’m interested in building up the surface so the paper has weight to it. I get to experiment and play!

To see more of Ruby’s work, visit goodman-gallery.com and follow ruby on Instagram to keep up to date with her latest projects.

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Bright and intricate paper sculptures by Korean paper artist and graphic designer Lee Ji-hee depict scale models of food and micro versions of vehicles and everyday household furnishings.

The vividly coloured artworks are meticulously detailed and built from paper and glue. From mini vacuum cleaners and tiny camper vans adorned with palm fronds to cheesy pizzas and twirly pasta, the paper is manipulated to capture the essence of Lee’s subject matter.

See more of Lee’s work on Instagram (@edaeri11) or via her website.

(h/t) thisiscolossal.com

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Artist Morongwe Mokone, who is originally from Pretoria and is now based in Switzerland, makes colourful swan bowls using recycled paper.

Inspired by her Japanese roommate in London who would make origami pieces for extra money, Morongwe Mokone first started making her paper swans 11 years ago. “I was intrigued by this type of art and had to learn,” she says.

Morongwe’s creations are decorative as well as functional. It takes her about 6 hours to make one sculpture by hand: cutting and folding paper before putting the swan together and sealing it with glue for shine and strength. “I love both colour and practicality,” she says. “I also love the idea of injecting colour into work spaces.”

The swans, which fall under Morongwe’s decor brand Mo’s Crib, will be available at Decorex Joburg in August, and at KAMERS/Makers in Stellenbosch and Irene towards the end of the year. She will also be heading to NY NOW in New York City in August to showcase the paper swans as well as brand-new upcycled designs.

Follow Mo’s Crib on Instagram to keep up to date.

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Noe Arata (also known as Dobleufa) creates whimsical layered paper artworks reminiscent of well-known fairytales.

Noe began her paper journey making origami cranes as a child, and her love for the medium grew from a full-time hobby into an online store. “I never liked the title of designer, much less that of an artist,” she explains on her website. “Over the years I discovered the intermediate term I appropriated: I am an artisan.”

Her delicate work mimics classic Brothers Grimm fairytales, such as Little Red Riding Hood, as well as Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.

Below are 10 of our favourites.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bmj1wXFjbdl/

As well as her magical landscapes, Noe also creates pretty bunting, perfect for parties, baby showers and special occasions. See more of her work at dobleufa.com.

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Colorado-based artist Tiffany Miller Russell creates intricate paper sculptures of wild animals.

She has mastered the art over the course of 15 years and begins each piece by starting with a detailed illustration, which she then uses as a base for her folded tactile works.

These 3D collages pack a textural punch, perfectly capturing the representation of feathers or scales.

To understand her subject matter, Tiffany volunteered in a zoology prep lab and a paleontology lab, so she could fully grasp every detail of the animals she recreates.

You can purchase her work via Etsy and view more pieces through her website and on Instagram.

(h/t) thisiscolossal.com

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Japanese artist Masayo Fukuda has been practicing kirie, the art of paper cutting by creating negative space in a single sheet of white paper, for over 25 years.

Her latest creation is an incredibly detailed octopus, which she deems her prized piece of 2018. This intricate art form requires intense patience and concentration, as can be seen in the ornate markings of the life-size octopus.

The web-like work, which is placed over a black background to create a striking contrast, took two months to complete.

See more of her intricate pieces on Instagram.

(h/t) boredpanda.com

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