"See a world in a grain of sand,
See a sky in a flower,
Grasp the infinite in the palm of your hand,
Grasp the limit in one hour. ”
This poem, written by the 18th-century English poet William Blake, inspired an artist to complete a technologically charged artistic creation 300 years later.
What comes to mind when you see it? Is it paper art? Is it a dragon pattern? Are there snowflakes? Or is it a cellular structure that is spreading and expanding?
Mystery revealed: This is a handmade paper cut inspired by E. coli and Salmonella.
The artwork was commissioned by the British Eden Project by artist Rogan Brown for a themed exhibition titled "Invisible You" to explore the vast bacterial communities that exist in the human body.
Rogan used his exquisite skills to complete this bacterial paper-cut work in 4 months, magnifying these bacteria 500,000 times.
"Of course, this work is not a 100% reproduction of the original appearance of bacteria, I added some details to it to make it more artistic and visually impactful. Although it may seem scary, most of the bacteria in the human body are benign and have been helping our bodies function." Rogan indicates.
Of course, this is not Rogan's first microscopic paper-cutting work, from cell division to microbes, Rogan has made many attempts to show the art of paper-cutting to the fullest.
Have you ever seen a moment when a cell divides? Just like this piece.
"Millions of cells in your body are constantly dividing and multiplying to maintain the functioning and growth of the whole human body, and this work attempts to show the drama of cell division by presenting the final moment when one cell splits into two daughter cells."
It's not easy to show the division and pulling of cells on fragile paper, but Rogan interprets them, and the uneven but interlaced paper, as if the disconnection between cells, surprises him with a pair of skillful hands.
The microbial cells from the perspective of the simulated microscope are also too cute to be good, and the different forms of cell structures are clustered together, as if a complete ecological circle, and everyone enjoys a crowded and orderly daily life, and the combination and arrangement are full of beauty.
In 2021, Rogan began his new series of experiments – showing coral bleaching with paper sculptures.
This delicate paper-cut work like glass art highlights the difference between healthy corals and albino corals with colored and white contrasts.
"Coral reefs are a microcosm of the macro world, and what happens on coral reefs today will happen tomorrow to other species on Earth. The damage caused by the climate crisis to natural life, and even to the planet as a whole, is irreversible, and it really deserves our attention," rogan said.
The piece is called Ghost Coral, and you can see that the healthy coral in the middle is slowly being swallowed up by the albino corals around it.
Another work, called Coral Garden, focuses on the beauty of coral, and the beautiful shape of the glass ball makes people marvel at the magic of nature.
Some people pursue complexity, and some people pursue simplicity. Pippa Dyrlaga, an artist from Yorkshire, loves to work on a piece of paper, cutting lace patterns and details on paper, and creating a super-healing paper-cut piece with just one piece of white paper.
● Natural flowers
● Ghost Horse Elves
● Pairs of crocodiles
● A living chameleon
● There are also land elves that feed small flowers
Some people pursue flatness, and some people pursue three-dimensionality. There are two artists in Abu Dhabi who are on the same three-dimensional paper carving bar. Using geometric principles and computer algorithms and other techniques, they produced a series of architectural paper sculptures.
● Spiraling tapered paper carving
● All kinds of vase ornaments
● Even repeated three-dimensional ornamentation
No matter which way of presentation, this paper-cutting technique that has been passed down for thousands of years has continuously revealed new ideas and designs in the pioneering innovation of generations of artists, and continues to bring us three-dimensional aesthetic works.