Impact

BAD NEWS TURNS INTO GREAT ART: AWESOME NEWSPAPER SCULPTURES

Courtesy of Hitotsuyama Studio. “An ode to your cry I still hear it even now.” Paper sculpture by Chie Hitotsuyama.

CHIE HITOTSUYAMA

A horrifying sad encounter sparked the creation of a beautiful new collection of art: incredible paper sculptures.

Image Courtesy of Hitotsuyama Studio Untitled Paper sculpture by Chie Hitotsuyama

When artist Chie Hitotsuyama took an illustration job with an NGO and traveled to Africa in 2007, she met a rhinoceros that had been rescued from poachers who were after its tusk. She was so shaken and moved, she was inspired to create sculptures to celebrate the beauty of these and other wild animals.

Turning bad news and garbage into something beautiful is what Hitotsuyama’s art is all about. She creates her sculptures out of old discarded newspapers.

Growing up in a family who owned a paper string factory, in Fuji, Shizuoka, Japan, Hitotsuyama was always surrounded by paper. Her grandfather owned and operated a paper mill. Paper is kind of part of her DNA. So, when she began to sculpt, she naturally gravitated towards paper as her medium.

Hitotsuyama densely rolls, twists, and binds pieces of wet newspaper, building up forms that are lifelike, life-sized animals.

The paper twists form animal fur, scales, and feathers. They are painstakingly applied to create uncanny realism.

Colored newsprint adds to the drama, as red-faced Japanese macaques capture your gaze and won’t easily let it go.

The first sculptural piece she made was the rhinoceros sculpture, entitled “An ode to your cry I still hear it even now.” She continued to create sculptures of other animals. And though they are made up of trash, they are treasures.

The paper sculptures are all produced by Hitotsuyama and her partner Tomiji Tamai at Hitotsuyama Studio, which is located in the warehouse of her family’s factory.

See more of Hitotsuyama paper masterpieces and on her website.

Read more about Beautiful Paper in Beautiful Lace in Papercut Artworks and Giant Gorgeous Paper Flowers Are So Surreal.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Mind/Body, Soul/Impact, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Arts/Design, and Place/Time, Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

All images are courtesy of Hitotsuyama Studio. Paper sculptures by Chie Hitotsuyama.