Paper isn’t the first medium most people think of when they
imagine sculpture, but it has qualities that help papercraft artists
create some of the most incredibly intricate 3D art ever seen. Master
paper sculptors like Richard Sweeney, Brian Dettmer and Ingrid Siliakus
cut, fold, glue and otherwise transform sheets of paper in various
colors, sizes and textures into complex creations that mimic
architecture, nature, the human form and subjects that are purely the
products of their own fertile imaginations.
Bert Simons – Incredibly Lifelike Portrait Sculptures
(images via: BertSimons.com)
Eerie, faceted 3-D paper heads float on a wall like grotesque
hunting trophies. They’re photo-realistic replicas of Rotterdam
papercraft artist Burt Simons
and his friends, created when Simons had a ‘mid-life
crisis’ in 2006 and realized there wasn’t much of him that
would be left behind. So, Simons decided to ‘clone
himself’, sculpting his head in 3D and using photographs to
texture it. He uses a computer program to flatten out the head into
printable pieces of paper and then assembles them with glue. Simons
says having his clones around helped him “get used to his bald
spot”.
