Dutch artist Ingrid Siliakus has been designing and building “paper architecture” ever since she began studying the work of Japanese architect Masahiro Chatani, the alleged founder of this origami-like model-making process. Siliakus’s intricate designs emerge from single pieces of paper, their forms finalized after the artist experiments with countless trial runs and prototypes. Her meticulous metropolises layer paper silhouettes of buildings with their own cut-out negatives and the delicate shadows cast by their fragile facades. Siliakus’s designs range from individual houses with traditional features to floating cities with soaring skyscrapers and puzzle-like, M.C. Escher-esque constructions held together by carefully incised, zigzagging stairs. The artist—who also classifies herself as a “paper architect”—compares her artistic process to that of erecting a building: she starts by imagining and constructing individual designs and proceeds by layering them on top of each other, carefully building toward an astoundingly complex finished result. The work shines from Siliakus’s attention to detail and clever manipulation of space. “Working with paper forces me to be humble, since this medium has a character of its own that asks for cooperation,” said the artist in a statement for a 2006 show in Holland. “Working with paper the way I do, namely by means of cutting and folding creating paper sculptures, asks of me to work with meditative precision. Paper architecture does not bare haste, it is its enemy; one moment of loss of concentration, can lead to failure of a piece.” For more information or to get in touch with Ingrid, follow the link below.
