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Artist Delicately Cuts Paper to Mimic the Intricate Beauty of Fluid Ink Drawings

Paper Cut Art

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In the right hands, an X-ACTO knife can be as precise as a newly sharpened pencil. Japanese artist Kiri Ken, aka Cutting Sword, masterfully demonstrates this fact with his intricate paper cutting art. The delicate creations feature the likes of sea creatures and human portraiture with incisions so fine that they mimic the fluidity of an inked drawing.

Ken’s cut paper art technique is nothing short of impressive. To produce these intricate designs, he extracts the entire image from a single sheet of origami paper. This requires not only a steady hand, but an incredible amount of patience; with one slip of his wrist, the tiny links and lines could be broken and his hard work marred.

The fragility of Ken’s compositions is not lost on his many fans, and he keeps an open, conversational dialogue with them through Twitter. In addition to sharing his projects on the social media platform, he also recommends tools and paper to use if they want to try cut paper art for themselves.

Kiri Ken creates paper cutting art that mimics the precision and fluidity of intricate ink drawings.

Paper Cutting Artist Kiri Ken

Paper Cut Art

Kiri Ken Cut Paper Art

Paper Cutting Artist Kiri Ken

Paper Cutting Artist Kiri Ken

Paper Cutting Artist Kiri Ken

Paper Cutting Art by Kiri Ken

Paper Cutting Art by Kiri Ken

Paper Cutting Art by Kiri Ken

Kiri Ken Cut Paper Art

Kiri Ken Cut Paper Art

Kiri Ken Cut Paper Art

Paper Cutting Artist Kiri Ken

Kiri Ken Cut Paper Art

Kiri Ken: Twitter
h/t: [Lustik]

All images via Kiri Ken.

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Intricately Detailed Papercut Designs Reflect Beauty of the Natural World

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled "Embroidered Life" that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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