ME AND MY SHADOW...

...puppets.

Chicago-based artist Andrea Everman (or for Etsy fans, Owlyshadowpuppets) creates these HILARIOUS shadow puppets with a laser cutter. They're based on her own ink drawings.

See more on her site.

YES,

this is for real.

Jen Stark creates these BEAUTIES by cutting intricate forms out of construction paper (yes, construction paper) and layering them infinitely. The effect? Waves upon waves of sumptuous color. I am COMPLETELY entranced. 

From top to bottom:

Burst, 2007

Coriolis Effect, 2007

On the Inside, 2008

Afterglow, 2007

Radial Reverie, 2009

Plasmascopic, 2009

Prismatic, 2009

Check this out (!!!):

And of course, see more of her work here.

WILHELM STAEHLE

(Make sure you click on each image to view them larger. 

Devil's in the details...)

i. am. crazy. over. these.

In what he dubs Silhouette Masterpiece Theatre, Staehle has created a morbid little world by mixing and mashing vintage postcards with his own papercut figures.

The result? A genius set of imagery that evokes incessant giggles.

See more here. They're ALL hilarious!

OH! And by the way, Wilhelm is THE lonewolfblacksheep.

SLASH: PAPER UNDER THE KNIFE @ THE MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN

Last week, I was able to catch a show at The Museum of Arts and Design, called Slash: Paper Under The Knife. 52 artists were asked to participate, and their glorious cut-paper masterpieces are on display until April 4, 2010. Using techniques such as laser cutting, hand cutting, burning, tearing, layering, perforating, shredding (you get the idea), these artists were able to create pieces that speak to their individual worlds as well as humanity as a whole. With a material that was invented more that 5000 years ago, they prove to exhibition viewers that paper can create exciting, new and unexpected ideas.

The show is nothing short of EXHILARATING.

Top: Anne Karin-Furunes, Yang Li (From the Shanghai Series), 2006, Photo by Spencer Tsai

Middle: Andrea Dezsö, Living Inside, Tunnel Books 2009, Photo by Péter Hapák (This is one of a series of "books", where the artist creates multi-layered worlds, almost like dioramas. Check more out here.)

Bottom: Béatrice Coron, Heavens (detail), 2009 (Note: this is 1 of 2 pieces...the other one is named "Hells". The intricate nature of these huge pieces....is simply insane.)

Read more about the show here.

KARA WALKER

If you haven't yet discovered Kara Walker, do. Now.

I've seen her work at the MET and at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. To say that you'll never forget it is a major understatement. Although haunting, grotesque and deeply disturbing, you may find that's it's nearly impossible to look away.

For obvious reasons, it's hard for me to separate what I see in her work from the feeling I got when I read Toni Morrison's Beloved. Walker's paper-cut figures depict scenes from slavery–images that delve way deeper than what most of us were taught in grade school. The stylized, stark black silhouettes beckon you into the image, asking you to ask more.

Her work begs us to look into the mirror of American history and identity, and makes it impossible to forget the eras that we might be most ashamed of.

"I think the really the whole problem with racism and its continuing legacy in this county is that we simply love it. Who would we be without the 'struggle'?"

–Kara Walker

See and read more here.

ANTOINE + MANUEL

Various invitations and checklists designed for Christian Lacroix shows.

Embossing, laser cutting, foils, OH MY!

There are so many beautiful things to point out, that I'm starting to lose focus....what keeps drawing me back is that adorable scull and bones logo on the piece on the bottom right (!!!)

Antoine Audiau + Manuel Warosz have worked together since 1993, when they met at the School of Art in Paris. They combine hand-drawn elements with digital illustrations. It's all about layering, layering and more layering. The result is always playful yet sophisticated, and completely innovative.

It was honestly a VERY difficult task to choose which of their pieces to feature. So you must check out more of their work here.

I might just have to devote tomorrow's post to them too!

YUKEN TERUYA...

...magically returns paper to its birth place.

I saw Yuken's work at PS1 back in 2005, and it has stuck with me ever since.

By using the method of papercutting, he creates miniature tree sculptures inside paper bags. In the above example, he used a McDonald's bag. The only material used is the paper itself. The trees are incredibly intricate, delicate and they put my grade-school dioramas to utter, utter shame.

See more here.