Papercutting on Stage: Kamishibai and Paper Theaters

A papercut theater enclosed within a small box by Beatrice Coron
Artwork by Beatrice Coron
Beatrice working on a large papercut of a city skyline
Beatrice working on a large papercut of a city skyline

Event Info

This class will take place on:

  • Thurs, June 17th, 10:00am–12:00pm ET

Masking and revealing is essential to story telling and will be played with to create a stage in form of a tunnel book, multi-layers card or artist book. Looking at historical forms of Japanese and Victorian paper theaters, we will explore news ways to tell a story with cut papers. Participants will learn different techniques of papercutting and how to design a stage for a story to develop. Stop animation, video inclusion, and live performance will be discussed.

Tips, tricks and resources will be provided. All levels of experience are welcome. This class is meant to inspire with lecture and examples. Hands on examples are shown and can be finalized after the class.

Required Materials:

  • Cutting mat
  • Exacto knife, blades 11
  • Binder board or cardboard
  • Tape
  • Glue
  • Stapler
  • US letter-size paper
  • Any recycled materials you have (magazines, cereal boxes, small misc. product boxes, used USPS/UPS/FedEx envelopes, etc.)

Optional:

  • Art supplies you already have
  • Thread & needle
  • Thin materials like plastic, fibers, rubber

About the Instructor

I collect many stories. Born and raised in France, I was a city dweller, a shepherdess and truck driver among others, then I worked in tourism and lived in Egypt, China, Mexico. I enjoy stories and working with my hands. That’s why settling as an artist in New York City, I started exploring visual storytelling with the techniques of papercutting. I draw with a blade to create empty and full shapes in artist books that cast shadows. Playing with shapes from 2D to 3D each project follows its own path. For public art I translate my hand-cut artwork in metal, glass or stone. I am looking for an artist community to connect with other artist around common interests.

All images courtesy of the instructor.

In order to best serve our community near and far, many of our online classes are pay-what-you-can. While each class has a suggested price, we wish to make our educational programming as economically accessible as possible as well as to make sure our students feel fulfilled in their creative processes outside of the studio. The amount you choose to pay goes directly toward our instructors and toward creating scholarship opportunities for the future.

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