Happy Year of the Dragon!!!!

Welcome to the New Year of the Dragon! Here’s another recent paper cut to celebrate this auspicious event. Here my character Daniel plays with fire works and is blown over by the terrific bang. 

Another of my Daniel characters rides on the Dragon. He holds a string of firecrackers in his hand, but he’s not really aware how dangerous this really is.  Behind the dragon water pours and flows and rain falls from the sky – This is after all the Year of the Water Dragon.

My cockroach characters are in danger of being washed away by the water, so they’re trying to escape by clinging to a rocket as it shoots skywards.  Are the cockroaches aware that the rocket will explode? Who knows? Cockroaches do have the knack of surviving just about anywhere.

This paper cut along with many others of mine is currently on display at the Suho Paper museum in Taipei. More on that next time!

 

 I’m sitting looking out of the window. It’s raining and when it rains, here in Taipei, it sometimes doesn’t stop!  This means the roads get very wet and in parts it’s like a flood. But this doesn’t deter the bikers who drive as crazily as ever… until… that is… they collide with another scooter and come to grief in a large puddle of water.

Here’s a new silk paper cut entitled ‘No Kiss!’ it’s one of a series of silk paper cuts that focus on a more irreverent look at my life in Taipei. 

Two scooter riders hit each other head on. OUCH! or are they kissing? Their head to head clash also looks like a Chinese Opera mask.

Here’s an unlucky rider lost in the water.

This silk paper cut along with many others will be in my upcoming show. Details below.


January Art News:- I'm starting off 2012 with an Artist in Residency at the Taipei European School. I'll be working with the Year 9's on a project to celebrate Chinese Lantern Festival.
I've also got a one man show opening on Friday January 13th. Unlucky for some (but not for me I hope!). It's at the Suho paper Museum in Taipei. 

Earth star

Earth star is the last of the current series of paper cuttings entitled Floating Worlds. It’s also the biggest and most complex of the series.

 It took almost 2 months to cut and paint.

Approx 80cm in diameter  this complex organic world floats aimlessly. Inside there are tiny creatures that live there. Are they trapped or are they the rulers of this kingdom?

At the last count there were 24 beetles and one butterfly!

 Here you can see Earth star's shadow projected onto the wall behind.

This piece along with four others from this recent series of paper cuttings will be exhibited in January and February of next year in Taipei.... but more on that nearer the time.

Rhizosphere

Here’s a new painted paper cutout that’s part of a recent body of work of small  floating organic worlds. It’s entitled Rhizospere 50cmx30cm.

The Rhizosphere is the thin top layer of soil where many tiny organisms and the roots of plants exist side by side.

As a child I remember digging my fingers into the soil and examining the results – bits of decaying plants, tiny bugs, worms, roots, strangely shaped pieces of I don’t know what (maybe bones). This was a mysterious parallel world to my own. Beautiful and strangely alluring.

Is the butterfly trapped or is it the King of this small world?

The shadows are important, a colourless version of this world.

Here is Rhizosphere backlit.

Details, details, details

Here are some details from five of my recent paper cuttings. These organic 'clumps' contain a variety of life. The most identifiable being butterflies. Are the butterflies the king of the clumps or are they trapped in these organic webs. These paper cut outs are about a shadowy world full of secrets and surprises.

Is this butterfly trapped?

The shadow shows the real complexity of these paper cutouts

 There are bubbles in there too.

A detail from of the work featured in my previous post, Pink Mist. Can you spot the butterfly in the shadow?

Pink Mist

Pink Mist is the fourth paper cut from a new body of work.

I’m still trying to figure out why and how this new body of work came about. I think it is a reaction to the highly rigid structure of my paper cuts.  For these new pieces my inspiration came from a number of sources -

• Decaying leaves, full of holes and patterns. yet still strong and complete. Trees that grow in random and chaotic ways.

• Working on experimental paintings with the most excellent Thomas Ebele. His working methods involves pouring paint and letting it create the imagery. For me this was an attempt to play with colour and random abstract imagery. Here’s an example of his work ‘Bull by the horns’ 2008.

For Pink Mist I poured, dribbled and splashed paint onto paper. Then I started to cut into it using the paint marks as my guide. Into this I also added some imagery – a butterfly trapped in the web of branches.  

By cutting and carving into the paint the work becomes sculptural  and the shapes, lines and colours take on new meanings. I then work into the paint to highlight and emphasize the flow, shapes and colours.

Summer paper cutting workshop

During the summer I was lucky enough to be invited to do a 1.5 day paper cutting workshop for children at Taipei's Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).

The kids had lots of fun (I hope!) making all kinds of interesting and fun cuts.

We designed and cut beautiful butterflies,

Our own cartoon characters,

And paper chains.

What did we do with all the paper scraps? - we decorated masks!

The kids' imagination and skills were fantastic and it's amazing how it all feeds into my own artwork. Great Fun! and Great Learning!