I typically avoid the camera lens like a vampire does the mirror. It’s not that I’m particularly shy, or afraid that the flash will suck out my dark, dark soul (it’s safely embedded in an ever-more decrepit portrait in the attic). Rather, I’m always a little put off that the me in video and audio looks and sounds just a smidgen different than the me in my head. Like a Bizarro version of my own fairly bizarre self.

Having said that, please enjoy this rarest of looks at the wily PaperCutter in its natural habitat; in this case, Fujikawa Kirie Art Museum in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. The first half of the video details the setting up of the Kirie of the World in Japan 2011 exhibition, while the second half focuses on the workshop. Best of all, they’ve edited my weird psuedo-Japanese so that it seems like I wasn’t talking gibberish.

Don’t forget, you have until September 25th to catch the exhibition.

In other news:

• There’s a new About page up! It’s terribly serious, complete with a new artist’s statement full of polysyllabic elucidation, a link to my art CV, and a Press section. There’s one or two links to interviews I gave, for those interested in hearing me talk about why paper is one of the great romances of my life.

• Speaking of my great romances, my nomadic wife and I have moved. We are no longer in the great and sprawling metroplois of Tokyo. Instead, we are now in the much more relaxed and somewhat less sprawling metropolis of Fukuoka. My new studio in our more spacious mansion is nearly set up, and I have started work on a very cool commission piece. As a bonus, my view is more epic than one meter of weeds and a stone wall. Maybe I can get some studio photos soon.

怪 is…are… um… Kai. The dictionary defines 怪 as suspicious, shady, implausible, and my absolute favorite word I’ve never heard before: shonk.

But kanji characters aren’t so simple. Combine them with other kanji and you create new words, new realities. Like 怪獣 (Kaijyuu), great and monstrous beasts, or, alternatively, men in rubber suits stomping all over cardboard cities. Others are 妖怪 (yokai), 怪談 (kaidan = ghost stories – not to be confused with 階段, also kaidan but much more a stair than a scare), and 怪文書 (kaibunshou = objectionable literature / anonymous document). Thus ends the Japanese lesson.

Gallery G2 in Ginza, one of my favorite galleries in Tokyo, hosts 怪, a celebration of the strange, the macabre, the odd, the weird, the alien, the ghastly, ghostly, fantastic and surreal. Naturally, they asked me to join, and I sent up a few of my more unnatural works.

Drop by the gallery, enjoy the oddities of a dozen twisted artists in a myriad of monstrous media. Take some pictures and send them to me, because, sadly, I am not in the Tokyo locale these days.

the details:

Name: 怪

dates: Thurs. August 11 – Tues. August 16, 2011

Times: 12:00pm – 19:00pm

place: Gallery G2, Chuo-ku, Ginza 2-8-2
Tel: 03-3567-1555
website: here map.

日付: ２０１１年８月１１日（木）〜８月１６日（火）
時間: 午前１２時～午後１９時
住所: 東京都中央区銀座2-8-2日紫ビル1F
電話: 03-3567-1555

Click the image above or here for the photo album.

Living, as I do, in Japan, I often find myself explaining to friends and art lovers why I won’t be able to attend the opening of my international shows. I’ve joked that my artwork travels more than I do. Which it does. And to make matters worse, it rarely sends a postcard or calls home after I let it loose into the world. So, with each exhibition on the other side of the world, I fret and worry until the work arrives safely, then sigh forlornly, wishing I could interact with all the people who come out to see the cut-paper work.

Happily, Kirie of the World in Japan 2011 is merely on the opposite side of the country, rather than the globe. So, on July 8th, I over-packed my bag (will I need a suit or a pair of speedos for the opening? Who can tell?) and hopped on the shinkansen zipping north towards Yamanashi prefecture and the Fujikawa Kirie Art Museum. The Fujikawa Craft Park is located in the mountains near Fuji-san, in some of the most beautiful country you’re likely to see. A family of herons were nesting in the trees outside my window at the Shimobe hotel – which, incidentally, has a superb onsen (hot spring) to relax in and boil away your stress.

The opening day and ceremony were on July 9th, and featured the wonderful harp playing of Miss Madoka Araki. It was a treat finally seeing, in person, the works of some of the cut-paper artists that I’ve admired from afar for years. In a shocking break from standard procedure, I brought my camera with me. And I used it.

The next day, the four artists in attendance (Tim Budden, Hina Aoyama, Masaaki Tatsumi, and myself) gave two demonstration workshops, showing our individual techniques and approaches. I should say that we gave three demos; two for the public right after a much more technical one for each other. Hina is a demon with a pair of scissors, zipping and slicing through designs and patterns so detailed I could barely see them. Tim’s sense of flow and composition is second only to the thought that goes into the metaphor and meaning of each piece. Masaaki has an enviable sense of color; watching his work come together is downright magical. I owe a big debt of gratitude to Hina Aoyama and our hosts at Kirie no Mori for organizing such a fantastic experience. The demos were really well attended. I had no idea that paper art had so many fans. Its inspiring and humbling to see people responding to the art and the artists in such a powerful way.

The exhibition is open until September 25th. Feel free to use it as an excuse to travel to Japan (or, if you’re already here, to get over to Mt. Fuji!). Seeing the work in person is an entirely different experience from these flat internet pictures.

The snippers, slicers, and visionaries responsible for the work (aside from myself) are:

• Hina Aoyama
• Bovey Lee
• Tatsumi Masaaki
• Andrea Dezsö
• Béatrice Coron
• Tim Budden
• Réhane Favereau

I’ll have a ton of other news to share with you in the weeks ahead (I hinted at it a bit in my meandering prose above), and I’ve been hard at work on new art. Enjoy a tiny sample!

There is a whole world of Cut Paper Art and artists out there, representing a vast array of styles, techniques, experiences and imagination. Beginning this July, Fujikawa Kirie Art Museum in Yamanashi Fujikawa Craft Park will be showcasing the breathtaking artwork of eight visionary cut paper kirie artists. With work both delicate and bold, the artists take the techniques of paper cutting to the bleeding edge. Tradition mingles with contemporary thought resulting in a showcase of technical and artistic prowess.

The exhibition opens to the public on July 9th, followed by a series of demonstrations performed by four of the artists (including myself) on the 10th. We’ll be slicing and chatting in a variety of languages from 1pm-2pm, and again from 3pm-4pm. If you’ve ever wanted to witness the making of these intricate works of art, this is a great chance!

Special thanks goes out to Ms. Hina Aoyama (蒼山日菜) for organizing the event, gathering an incredible group of artists, and for allowing my loud and colorful pieces to stand as a counterpoint to the delicacy, beauty, and subtlety of much of the work. I am humbled.

Download the flyer PDF

the details:

Name: Kirie of the World in Japan 2011

dates: Sat. July 9 – Sun. September 25, 2011

Times: 9:30am – 5:30pm (closed Wednesdays)

place: Fujikawa Kirie Art Museum, Yamanashi Fujikawa Craft Park, Yamanashi-ken, Minamikoma-gun, Minobu-cho, Shimoyama 1597, 〒409-2522, Japan
Tel: 0556-62-5545
museum website: right here.

日付: ２０１１年７月９日（土）〜９月２５日（日）
時間: 午前9時30分～午後5時30分（入館は閉館30分前まで）
休館日: 毎週水曜日（祝日を除く）
住所: 〒409-2522 山梨県南巨摩郡身延町下山1597番地
電話: 0556-62-5545

170 artists send 170 messages of hope and support to Japan.

We are still finding it hard to fathom the repercussions of the earthquake, tsunami, and Nuclear crisis here in Japan. While the earth has greatly calmed down, we still feel the occasional and alarming rumble. Despite the disaster having disappeared from the headlines around the world, it will be a long, long time until any sense of normalcy returns to northern Japan. Personally, I still feel phantom shaking nearly 3 months after the event.

I met Fumiha Tanaka in grad school, both of us having recently relocated to Georgia from Japan. While I’m back in Japan, she has settled in New York. In the wake of the disaster, she and a few of her friends took action and put together an amazing project called Dear Japan NY, a benefit art exhibition with all proceeds going to the Japan Society “Japan Earthquake Relief Fund”. Being one of the 170 artists who donated their work was important to me, and I hope that, in even a small way, it will help in the recovery.

Details:

Dates: June 4th, 2011 (one day only!!)
Time: Saturday 4-8 PM (From 5pm buyers can start taking the artwork home)
Place: Art Connect New York Gallery Space | Event website | map
Invitation: Download invitation pdf
Address: 491 Broadway, 5th Floor, New York, New York 10012
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