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Tuesday, July 1, 2008

These ain't no kindergarten scissors

{Impenetrable Castle (detail), 2005, by Peter Callesen}


I am so envious of artists who work in a medium like this, their skill, their patience. It's not like an oil painting, where if you make a mistake you can paint over it, or a dress, where you can rip out the seam. One slip of the knife and kaput! hours of work, ruined.

Peter Callesen, the Danish artist behind these creations, magically turns two-dimensional paper into three-dimensional images. He calls it "obvious magic, because the process is obvious and the figures still stick to their origin, without the possibility of escaping. In that sense there is also an aspect of something tragic in most of the cuts."


{Cut To The Bone, 2007}

"Some of the small paper cuts relate to a universe of fairy tales and romanticism, as for instance "Impenetrable Castle" inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", in which a tin soldier falls in love with a paper ballerina, living in a paper castle. Other paper cuts are small dramas in which small figures are lost within and threatened by the huge powerful nature. Others again are turning the inside out, or letting the front and the back of the paper meet."

{Erected Ruin, 2007}

16 comments:

Teal Chic said...

Wow, those are absolutely stunning. Thanks as always for visiting! :)

please sir said...

WOW - AMAZING Work - great finds!!

Nikella said...

Wow...I have neve heard of Peter Callesen, nor seen his art. Thanks for introducing me to something new!

Marie Louise said...

Very cool chica!

Anonymous said...

beautiful! Now that is art my friend... Susie H~ Thanks for sharing that one...

Suzanne : : S.HOPtalk said...

These are amazing...the patience it must take to create these gorgeous little works of art. Thanks for sharing.

Mrs.French said...

stunning...the castle makes me smile.

knitseashore said...

They remind me of the German scissorcutting, which has so much intricate detail, though it is two dimensional instead of three. What a way to take that craft into modern times! You need an incredibly steady hand!

The House That A-M Built said...

Wow, they are just amazing! Oh to be so fine motor... I am so gross motor it is not funny! I LOVE the skeleton! A-M xx

littlebyrd said...

I would never have the patience. I'm glad someone does!

P said...

This is incredible. I am totally obsessed with paper cutters (definitely not the correct term, but you get my drift).

You have such a great blog - I'm adding you to my linklist immediately!

please sir said...

Thanks for the encouraging groovy words!

robin ann mcintosh said...

always, always you have the most creative links. i'm drawn to his art, i have always been a sucker for cut outs and "snowflakes" - thanks for the heads up!

Fifi Flowers said...

LOL.. paint the men out... maybe you could cut them out... LOL!

Marnie said...

have you seen this blog: http://elsita.typepad.com/
my friend Jeanne from Nantucket Mermaid clued me in to her amazing cut-outs

Julie @ Belle Maison said...

i really admire these works of art! i could never have enough patience to do such a thing... really stunning pieces!