Papercraft Object Exploration

In preparation for an upcoming papercraft project some research was needed to explore the medium of papercraft and to look into some cool and interesting paper art. The work I decided to investigate was by Hari and Deepti, who are known for their "Illuminated Cut Paper Light Boxes".

This work as I understand is a long and complicated process with a very simple yet effective and stunning outcome. The work involves the drawing of the objects/shape silhouettes then cutting them out with an X-ACTO knife. Once all the elements are cut out, the frame in which they will be placed in is backlit so the artists can start to piece together their composition. 

I believe probably the most complicated part about this type of work is not the cutting the objects out of paper but the creation of the objects themselves. This process involves the proper scaling of objects in order to convey the sense of depth the work creates. Alongside depth the idea of negative space and overlapping of layers needs to be kept in mind in order for the objects to be spaced properly and fit well inside the whole composition. 

I selected these artists and their work mainly because I just love the pieces they created and how unique they are. Their craft and the amount of time, thought, and preciseness they put into their work just amazes me. The silhouettes of all the elements in the frames are minimal and bring a clean look to the whole piece. The way they created depth with paper, turning a 2D composition and converting it into 3D with layering really brings the audience into the scene and gives the pieces a lot of atmospheric qualities. 

I also love the way the light combined with the layering brings multiple variations of the yellow and orange colours that gives the normally plain silhouettes some colour. The last thing that really knocks these works out of the park is that they took a simple idea and took it to the next level. They could have just done this on the computer or made the objects on one layer, but they didn't and that is what makes this an awesome collection of papercraft artwork.

Article on this work can be found here: http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/03/illuminated-cut-paper-light-boxes-by-hari-deepti/