mayuko fujino paper art – let’s chat!

look at the beautiful, delicate work of japanese artist mayuko fujino! these are not illustrations but paper cutouts with additional collage work. i love the organic themes and joyful compositions. her techniques are precise and eye for color admirable. i think you could just dive right into some of these and land on a fluffy cloud. let’s have a chat with mayuko and find out more!

q: where do you live?
a: tokyo, japan

q: what inspires your artwork?
a: i think what inspires me most are the challenging technical restrictions of paper cutout. sometimes when i have an idea it does not fall within the conventional rules for my method… and when i see something then the rules decide 1) if i can actually craft it or not and 2) how to go about making it. it’s fun for me to see how far i can go within the limitations. to do that, i always have to make the best use of inventiveness, and sometimes unexpected ideas occur. sometimes i think it almost acts like a guide for me to understand the world. and of course music (like moondog) and literature inspire me a lot. a sound body with storing of memory in five senses.

q: can you tell me a little about your technique?
a: they are paper cutouts and i color them with magazine pages, papers and collage. i use a special cutting tool (not scissors) to make the special cut shapes.

q: how large are these finished pieces and are they for sale?
a: they range in size from 10cm x 10cm to 79.0cm x 54.5cm (about 4″ x 4″ up to 31″ x 21.5″). i am preparing to sell them.

q: are you currently in any shows, and is there anything else special you would like to mention?
a: i will have an exhibition from february 6 through february 10th at fall gallery in tokyo, and on february 9th i am going to perform a new shadow show titled “mr. and mr.mysteries” there. i sometimes act as the “georama” or shadow play unit. also, our short film is available at myspace here.

be sure to look at mayuko’s flickr stream for more gorgeous work.

thank you mayuko!