Tree becomes Paper becomes Tree

Yuken Teruya (1973- ) a Japanese-born artist based in New York City, constructs intricate paper cuttings from discarded materials like toilet paper rolls, high end shopping bags, books, McDonald's fast food bags, and cereal boxes. His meticulous creations  begin with everyday objects and often reference consumer culture.

“When people become attracted to my work and observe it closely, they start extracting messages from it.” Teruya told Asian Art Newspaper. “Whenever art is made from everyday objects the viewer brings the experience into their own private sphere and upon using the same material, they will view it from a renewed perspective.”

Using tiny scissors, Yuken Teruya creates meticulous and intricate and enchanting worlds that are sometime viewed from within and cast haunting shadows. In each bag or roll, the shape of a tree is created without adding or removing anything, just by cutting out and folding the paper from the object itself. Simple yet elegant. 

To view additional work, visit Yuken Teruya Studio.

 

For his Giving Tree Project, Yuken cut and created a tree from the pages of Shel Silverstein's classic children's book, The Giving Tree.