Papercutting or paper cutting is one art of creating patterns and designs. The art has evolved uniquely all over the world to adapt to different cultural styles.
Chien-Chih (papercutting) – China
Papercutting or paper cutting is one art of creating patterns and designs. The art has evolved uniquely all over the world to adapt to different cultural styles. One traditional distinction most styles share in common is that the designs are cut from a single sheet of paper as opposed to multiple adjoining sheets as in collage, although one style of papercutting, découpage, or “cutting-out,” builds up an image or pattern in a way somewhat similar to collage. Modern papercutters work in a vast array of methods and with various traditional and non-traditional materials. Contemporary papercutting is also sometimes associated with the art of stenciling, itself being derived from techniques used in graffiti art. The use of hand-cut stencils in graffiti art has received international attention in recent years, due in part to artists such as Swoon and Banksy.
Paper cut art appeared during the Han dynasty in 4th century AD after the Chinese official, Cai Lun, invented paper in 105 AD. Before paper, clay, wood, slate and parchment (prepared animal skins) had all been used for writing and drawing. The Greeks and Romans wrote on waxed tablets with a pointed stylus for temporary writing. The term paper itself comes from the word papyrus, which is the plant that the Ancient Egyptians processed to write on. However, papyrus isn’t actually paper: the Egyptians created it by slicing the stem of the papyrus plant into thin strips and pasting them together into scrolls and sheets. The paper that Cai Lun invented, on the other hand, was less expensive than vellum or parchment and even than papyrus, and to some degree less time consuming than any of the others to create: The wood and stems of plants and trees such as the mulberry (kozo) were not cut and layered as in papyrus but instead pulped, so that the small pieces of plant formed a sheet randomly. This paper, which was quite sturdy and could be very beautiful, was a big advance. The oldest surviving paper cut out is a symmetrical circle from the 6th century Six Dynasties period found in Xinjiang China. Papercutting continued to be practiced during the Song and Tang Dynasties as a popular form of decorative art.
By the eighth or ninth century papercutting appeared in West Asia (Anatolia, modern Turkey). The knowledge of papermaking did not reach Europe until the 13th century. In Switzerland and Germany it is not until the 16th century that we have firm evidence of papercut art or scherenschnitte (“scissor cuts”).
There are many styles of papercutting throughout the world, each with its own unique look. Below are examples of six traditional styles.
Jianzhi
It is possible that the Chinese have been creating cut paper since paper was invented there in the 2nd century CE. The art was practiced by wealthy families who could afford the expensive paper; often brides prepared them as part of their dowry. As paper became more affordable, jianzhi grew into a folk art, mastered by the general population. Created for festivals, marriages and birthday banquets, the imagery is rich with symbols. Traditional paper cuts are often created with scissors, using “lucky” red origami paper.
Papel Picado
An early form of papercutting originated in ancient Mexico, where the Aztecs collected amatl, a paper-like bark from fig and mulberry trees. They used obsidian knives to cut spirit figures out of the amatl. Papel picado (“perforated paper”) as we know it today began in the Spanish colony of Puebla in the 16th century, where a Chinese silk paper (papel de China) was was used for cut decorations and lanterns. Today, Mexican artists use inexpensive tissue paper to create papel picado for both religious and secular purposes. Paper designs decorate altars and tables and stretch across windows, ceilings, plazas and narrow streets as colorful banners to announce weddings, funerals, baptisms, Mexican Independence Day, Christmas, the Day of the Dead, etc. These banners begin with a single pattern laid on a stack of up to 50 layers of tissue paper on a thick piece of lead. Then, with a mallet and various chisels called fierritas (“little irons”), artisans punch out designs of suns, birds, flowers, skeletons, etc. The cut sheets are then hung on strings or on wooden dowels. Today plastic, mylar, foil and coated papers are also used for increased durability.
Jewish Papercutting
There is no better example of a popular art form that took its inspiration from the and Talmud than Jewish papercuts, all of them serving some religious, ritual or mystic purpose. … even the poorest Jew had access to the humble materials and tools — paper, pencil, penknife, watercolors and colored crayons — with which he could express his own form of hiddur mitzvah (beautification of the commandments and rituals) by making a papercut.
“My Jewish Learning,” https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/jewish-papercutting/
The origin of Jewish paper cutting is unclear. Ashkenazi Jews in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries practiced this type of art, and its popularity in Europe peaked in the 18th and 19th centuries. However, Jewish papercuts can be traced to Jewish communities in Syria, Iraq, and North Africa, and the similarity in the cutting techniques (using a knife) between East European Jews and Chinese papercut artists may indicate that the origin goes back even further. Papercutting has been used among the Jewish people to enhance the artwork hung in their homes, to decorate their book covers, to beautify their marriage contracts, and in many other ways. Traditional papercut artwork often shows symmetrical designs with traditional Jewish symbols such as lions, menorahs and crowns. Often the word Mizrach, or East, was written on the papercutting and hung on the east wall, towards Jerusalem. Ketubot, Jewish Marriage contracts, have also been decorated with papercutting. Today there are many Jewish papercut artists who practice older style designs, while others adapt the tradition into contemporary forms.
Scherenschnitt
Scherenschnitt (“Scissor Cutting”) is a traditional folk art dating from the 1500s in Switzerland and Germany. Symmetry, an important design element in the Swiss work, is achieved by cutting the paper while folded. Germanic design tends to be more surreal, while Swiss cuttings are characterized by intricate borders and themes depicting landscapes and local traditions. The Pennsylvania Germans brought the art of scherenschnitte to America in the 1700s and used the cut work to decorate birth, baptismal, and marriage certificates.
Wycinanki
Wycinanki (vih-chee-nahn-key) were most popular in the late 19th century in Poland. It is likely that the first papercuttings were cut from white paper and used as curtains and to decorate mirrors and holy pictures in peasant cottages. Later, they were cut from colored paper using sheep shears and glued onto walls and wooden ceiling beams. The cuttings were traditionally created by women prior to Easter, when the cottage was spring-cleaned and the walls whitewashed. There were many regional types, but most began by folding a colored paper at least once to make symmetrical designs. Motifs include circles, stars, squares, trees, flowers, roosters, and other birds. Some were overlaid with colored papers. Today, tourists and collectors continue to value the traditional techniques and motifs used by wycinanki artists in Poland and abroad.
Wayang Kulit
Wayang, also known as wajang or wayang kulit, is a traditional form of puppet theatre play originally found in the cultures of Java, in Indonesia. This art grew up and is found in Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Malaysia. A dramatic story is told through shadows thrown by puppets and sometimes combined with human characters. The puppets themselves are made from cut paper or leather and mounted on sticks or wires; the flat puppets, when pressed up against a lighted screen from behind, produce from the audience’s perspective a kind of silhouette shadow play. The art form celebrates Indonesian culture and artistic talent; its origins are traced to the spread of Hinduism in the medieval era and the arrival of leather-based puppet arts called thalubomalata from southern India. Wayang refers to the entire dramatic show. Sometimes the leather puppet itself is referred to as wayang.
Performances of shadow puppet theatre are accompanied by a gamelan orchestra in Java, and by gender wayang in Bali. The dramatic stories depict mythologies, such as episodes from the Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, as well as local adaptations of cultural legends. Traditionally, a wayang is played out in a ritualized midnight-to-dawn show by a dalang, an artist and spiritual leader; people watch the show from both sides of the screen. UNESCO designated wayang kulit, a shadow puppet theatre and the best known of the Indonesian wayang, as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on 7 November 2003. In return for the acknowledgment, UNESCO required Indonesians to preserve the tradition.
Wikipedia, “Wayang (shadow puppets)” from Java, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia generally. Accessed 28 Jan 2020.