There are several reasons why cutting stencils is the shit. It’s the perfect excuse to (1) hold a knife (2) put my anal-retentiveness to good use (3) liberate my closet psychosis (3) use words like psychosis, which are otherwise unnecessary in my daily life.
Speaking as a stencil head, I can’t help but get all sexcited when I come across the work of my fellow paper cutters. Above is work by Bovey Lee, an artist who intertwines the personal and the political via intricate rice-paper webs. Her apocalyptic visions– images of atomic destruction, natural disaster, and industrialization– are chillingly offset on translucent paper lace. From Hyphen: “she forgoes the use of color, common in traditional paper cutouts, in order to emphasize linearity and the interplay between solid and void.” Somehow, such abstract wordage– which would normally cause my eyes to glaze over– makes sense when describing something so otherworldly and fragile.
The animation below, by Annie Poon, is similarly lovely. It reminds me of my little sis and how kids are able to create possibility and adventure out of the most ordinary things. Just the other day I saw a toddler playing with a bus cord for the longest time, all the while cackling with joy. Moments like this make me feel optimistic, cos this kid knows something you don’t.
Tags: animation, annie poon, art, bovey lee, kids, paper, paper art, paper sculpture, rice paper, stencil
