Jacob Lee
Jun 07
General Discussion
Kirigami Greeting Cards (Kirigami Craft Books series)
Teabag folding is credited to Dutch artist Tiny van der Plas, who developed the technique in 1992 as a papercraft art for embellishing greeting cards. It uses small square pieces of paper (e.g., a tea bag wrapper) bearing symmetrical designs that are folded in such a way that they interlock and produce a three-dimensional version of the underlying design. The basic kite fold is used to produce rosettes that are a 3 dimensional version of the 2D design.
Japanese paper crafts is a great art form that can be done by all ages. There are easy kirigami projects, but then there are also more intricate and challenging ideas. Some of these ideas can be used to make unique and beautiful greeting cards, which can involve a simple flat design or a fun pop-up design.
But what I especially love about Scott's work with playing cards is his kirigami creations. These have a quality about them that is almost the opposite of card stacking. While the size of a card house is limited only by the space you're working with, kirigami cards are by definition very much constrained to the canvas of a single playing card. Within these strict contours, it is up to the creator to come up with something unusual and interesting.Scott will be the first to admit that he has been inspired by others who have gone ahead of him. But you only have to look at pictures of the vast amount of different creations he's produced over time, and it is obvious that he's a master of his craft. He has spent hours and hours in understanding and mastering this unique art-form, first by refining existing designs, and then going on to create original designs of his own.He considers each of his creations to be a kind of independent \"puzzle\", where the final work of art seems mysteriously impossible. With effort you can figure out how they have been made, but this element of mystery and impossibility really adds to their appeal. When you look at the result, the way that this has been accomplished isn't immediately obvious. And yet with some effort, you can certainly unfold the card and bring it back to its original form as a single playing card. One of the most remarkable things about these kirigami cards is that no gluing is involved, but only cutting and folding.
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