Nahoko Kojima’s Monumental Yet Poetic Paper Sculptures

Nahoko Kojima, a London-based Japanese artist, is known for her huge, majestic paper sculptures, which exude a captivating sense of fragility. This young woman already has numerous exhibitions under her belt, but she continues to surprise through her creations, each one more grandiose than the last. A true master of paper, she combines poetry and craftsmanship and does so with great subtlety.

Known for her many sculptures of flowers and animals, the artist, born in 1981, is reinventing kirigami, the art of cutting paper. Through techniques which are unique to her, she transforms washi paper (an artisanal paper used only in Japan) into an impressive polar bear that’s three metres tall, or a thirty-two-metre-long whale.

This life-size whale, unveiled at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre in September 2018, catches the attention notably due to Kojima’s attention to detail: the whole surface comprises complex designs and patterns which demonstrate her dexterity. This immense sculpture made from cut paper therefore seems, in spite of its size, to float just above the ground.