Ryuji Nakamura: cornfield (Installation at the National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo, 2010): Front view

Ryuji Nakamura has officially trained as an architect but nowadays he and his associates work in the diverse fields of design of architecture, landscape, interior, furniture, etc. – and I would add art to it. The homepage is full with highly aesthetic projects – my “paper heart” beats especially for the cornfield installation that was entirely made of paper and glue.

Ryuji Nakamura: cornfield (Installation at the National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo, 2010): Different view, amazing structure and details

The whole installation is constructed solely of glue and paper, the structural formalities of the piece balance logic, technique and aesthetics. cornfield spans over 53.90 m2 – basically it’s about the height of an average-size person and at its longest size is 16m. Amazingly it’s constructed so that it’s not possible to see it as a whole from any view point making it feel even bigger even though the construction is nevertheless “floating” in the air. Pictures of how cornfield was installed can be found here. I can’t read the Japanese descriptions but seeing people work on it makes it a lot more human.

Ryuji Nakamura & Associates: Bouquet, 2010 – Trophy for Vogue Women Of The Year 2010

This bouquet by Ryuji Nakamura & Associates is most certainly a bunch of (paper) flowers I wouldn’t mind to be awarded either….

All pictures here: www.ryujinakamura.com, taken by Ryui Nakamura and Ryuji Nakamura & Associates

Perhaps I should admit that I have a weak spot for Japanese design – though looking at my blog it probably speaks for itself.

Another design company I came across is kyouei design who are behind this fantastic cube letter set.

The design of the cubes are based on traditional Japanese paper balloons (these) that can be blown up. Though I’m not sure if I would ever use this letter set or just keep it for myself…

kyouei design also designed these honeycomb lamps made of special denguri paper. Though the principle is not new the light they give is nevertheless beautiful and the form of the lamp a very classical one perfectly fitting into a lot of living environements – and you can hang them upside-down, too!

There is also kyouei design studio’s bulb lantern to check out – a combination of an industrial duct hose and a traditional Japanese lantern. If I had only known before going to London I would have checked out these great paper products in the shops – so I have to wait till the next time (a good reason to go to London again soon)!

Grethe Wittrock: Heart Blood, 2003. Walhanging, dyed paper-yarn in 6 red colours/some lacquered, knotted on steelplate, 140 x 120 cm.

A very inspiring textile artist who has been working with paper yarns among other materials for years is Grethe Wittrock. I think her work shows the strength of the material especially in her wallhangings where single pieces of yarn that are fragile by themselves are combined to form bold statements.





Grethe Wittrock: Amulett I, 2007. Walhanging.

After an initial training as a weaver Grethe Wittrock travelled to Japan where she became fascinated by the Japanese paper tradition. She not only learned Japanese printing and paper making techniques but she also met a paper yarn spinner in Kyoto and took back a whole load of paper yarns to Denmark – I think this could be called fate.

Grete Wittrock and Ann Schmidt-Christensen: Kimono, 1993, Collection 1. The First Collection by Project Papermoon. Japanese paper-yarn handwoven in pique technique and point stitched. Kimono is a unique masterpiece from The Project Papermoon

Grete Wittrock and Ann Schmidt-Christensen: Jeune Couture Collection 1999. The Horse, 1999. Jeune Couture Collection by Project Papermoon. Japanese glass-paper-yarn handwoven in form and geometrically cut. Silkscreen printed.

1993 Grethe Wittwock and fashion designer Ann Schmidt-Christensen started The Project Papermoon resulting in fascinating pieces of clothing that shift between functional and purely aestectic objects. The pleating and folding of these garments bring to mind the creations of the Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake whom Grethe Wittrock also names as an artist who has influenced her work.

Grethe Wittrock: Lime Grass and Nordic Wind, 2007. Walhanging.

To learn about more about Grethe Wittrock I recommend to not only visit her website but to also read the interview with her that for some reason is called “Embroidery Article“.