Artist 68 Nahoko Kojima Paper Artist
Nahoko Kojima (小島 奈保子 Kojima Nahoko) is a professional contemporary Japanese paper cut artist, born in Hyogo, Japan on 2 October 1981. She started Kirie (Japanese papercutting) as a child .
An avid follower of fashion and trends, she found much of her inspiration in the city. She briefly pursued a career in Graphic Design in Tokyo before moving to London to learn more of the Western culture of the Arts.
Kojima uses pioneering technique, turning traditionally flat wall hung pieces into sculptures floating in exhibition halls. She uses lighting and fills spaces with delicate line work.
She takes one hand-cut sheet of paper the colour varying with each project, suspends from the ceiling in a manner that creates a sculptural representation of the animal intertwined with narrative and hidden characters.
Regarding her process Kojima is quoted as having said:
“When I was a child I would lie down on my back on the grass and draw the underside of flowers. I think when we discover a hidden beauty, we leave our bodies and look on ourselves, the object and environment, all as one lovely epiphany.”
The grueling technical elements of cutting paper into such large sculptures is daunting to understand. These works are so delicate I find them absolutely fascinating. She has taken a traditional art form generally used in collage and flat images into a sculptural practice and it’s a very clever twist.
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