I Hand-Cut Paper Into Hundreds Of Tiny Pieces To Create Sculptures Of Birds, Bees, And Other Creatures

I’ve had quite an exciting career over the last 18 years, I’ve worked as an animator, directed music videos and I’ve also owned and was the creative director of an animation company in London. All these things were a great life experience and I learnt a lot about myself. One of the main things I realised, was I that I missed creating work of my own. I wanted to slow down, get off the computer and feel a bit more free.

I started to create designs out of paper about 6 years ago. I started to make things in my spare time while I worked on graphic design and animation projects. I first made a 2D paper hummingbird. I loved working with the paper and found the whole experience really relaxing, almost like meditating.

As time went on I was lucky to become a member of the Paper Artists Collective, a global group of super talented paper artists. I started to experiment with 3-dimensional models and tried to challenge myself with more difficult designs.

My first real break came from Waitrose Magazine in the UK. I was asked to make a paper blue tit for the cover. It was a real challenge to work out how to construct the wing, I needed to find lots of images of a blue tit in flight, shot from as many angles as possible in order to work it out.

On average it takes 5 days to make one of the models. The blue tit’s feathers were all hand cut and fringed, the body was made from hundreds of hand-cut pieces of paper. The chameleon and bee are both made from approximately 600 little hand-cut paper triangles.

I find the greatest inspiration for my work comes from nature. I love the patterns, symmetry, colour, geometry and texture. I love the detail. I then try to give it a modern twist, taking inspiration from the design world – such as fashion, interiors and graphic design. My hope is to create an exciting fusion of the two, to try and create something new and fresh.

I’m currently making a series of insects inspired by fashion designers and victorian entomological illustrations.

My first model was a bee. I decided to go for an abstract pattern using gold, pink and blue – my inspiration came from the latest Mary Karantzou ‘resort 2018’ collection. Such beautiful and inspiring work, I love her use of pattern, texture and colour.

My next project looks like it will be a stagbeetle with some popping colour, but I’m still in the early stages of design…

More info: lisalloyd.net | Instagram

I Hand-Cut Paper Into Hundreds Of Tiny Pieces To Create Sculptures Of Birds, Bees, And Other Creatures