Review of "Traditional Chinese Cut-paper Designs: Collected & Edited by Bernd Melchers"

Review of

Traditional Chinese Cut-paper Designs: Collected & Edited by Bernd Melchers ISBN 0486235815


Five out of five stars

 When one thinks of paper art forms in nature, the first thought in nearly everyone’s mind is “origami.” Yet, there are other such art forms and this book features one that is incredible, the art of creating detailed designs by cutting paper. The art form is not just the cutting of outlines, but the removal of tiny sections inside the outline to create elaborate detail.

 The designs in this book were collected from native artists in Shantung, China in 1913. They represent a meticulous attention to detail characteristic of the oriental artist. Many of the images are of people in various activities, from a man with a sword about to swing it through to a man quietly fishing. The images in this collection are all black and white, with the empty spaces in the paper serving as the white.

 This is an artbook that the novice can enjoy and could be used by art teachers that are looking for new and unusual forms of art to introduce in their classes. Those lacking in fine manual dexterity will struggle though.