Kathleen Trenchard

Cut paper has been used across the ages by many people for many purposes.   Examples range from decorations as solace for mourners, to love tokens suggesting the refinement and devotion of the sender. My work in paper evolved from a love of drawing and an awe of the traditional Mexican and Chinese art of paper cutting.  My drawings now serve as templates which are destroyed in the process of producing cut work.  I am exploring the translation of cut paper into more permanent materials such as metal, suede and multi-colored stencils.  The scale of my work varies from 1″ paper cuts to 18 foot high window panels. I enjoy the juxtaposition of folk decorations with my own interpretations, contrasting the decorative with the contemplative.  Subtle gradations of light and shadow are almost impossible to achieve in cut paper, which epitomizes perfectly the duality of positive and negative space, both graphically and literally.  This challenges the artist to rely on graphic design and composition for the success of the work. Cut into a single sheet, paper images rely on a web of connectors to hold implied lines and shapes in place.  Connectors may be hidden in the imagery or made to stand apart, as in a grid or field that holds the imagery in place.  In some of my work, the elaborate shadow cast by the paper cut is the primary art work created through the interplay of light upon the piece. My works are cut with knives, hammer and chisel, scissors and laser.