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Beautifully Intricate Paper Cutouts Reveal a Whimsical Look at the Everyday World

India-based artist Vanshika Agarwala is self-taught in the intricate craft of paper cutting. Her beautiful, meticulously-constructed works are expertly created using an X-Acto knife to extract tiny shapes from large sheets of paper, revealing an enchanting view of the world. Patterns, flowers, and landscapes are produced with fanciful flourishes and an abstracted point of view. When light passes through them, they project dazzling silhouettes.

Agarwala discovered the artistic medium only last year after seeing artist Beatrice Coron's work in London, where she was living while studying economics. “Since then,” Agarwala tells us in an email, “I have been doing paper-cutting as a hobby. Each piece is an experiment since I'm learning as I go along. My paper cuts are a whimsical take on the things we see around us everyday, and are greatly inspired by my love for travel and architecture.

Vanshika Agarwala: Instagram | Behance

My Modern Met granted permission to use photos by Vanshika Agarwala.

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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