
I have been a visual artist for 22 years now and specialising in papercutting for 12 years. My interest in this artform stems from a gift my parents received from my uncle when I was in my teens. It was a traditional paper cutting from Hong Kong of a landscape. I could not believe the detail achieved using just one piece of paper, and so began a love and interest that I believe will last a lifetime.
In South Africa I have managed to find a hand full of papercutting artists. It is not common at all, so I started looking globally for artists working within this artform. I was specifically looking for contemporary papercutting artists who were pushing the boundaries both in concept and technical approach. Although it is not a common artform globally within contemporary art, there are some exciting artists in Ukraine, Japan, America and other countries; artists like Daria Alyoshkina, Masayo Fukuda and Nahoko Kojima. I am inspired by many of my fellow contemporary artists in Africa and South Africa; I am often blown away by the skill, talent and conceptual topics being pushed through their art but technical approaches to papercutting is something that has led me to look at other continents.



Papercutting has a long history and is a very traditional artform but not in South Africa. I started exploring types of paper and approaches to cutting with no knowledge of how it was traditionally done. The videos online often spoke to paper and tools which I could not find locally so I had to experiment and after many years I found my own style and technique. It is in the process that I lose myself and really love this artform. I enjoy making both small and large works and working with one sheet of black paper. There is something about this simplistic and absolute limitation. I enjoy sketching ideas on the black paper with a pencil and then ‘drawing’ with a blade. I have now learnt how other papercutting artists work and see how vastly different my approach is. The blade is like a pen to me and ‘doodling’ on the artwork is always part of the process.
Over the years many people who do not work within this artform have made suggestions to me like layering the paper, working more sculpturally, using a laser cutting machine, working in different coloured papers; all of these ideas absolutely could be explored but what they do not realise is that part of the appeal of this artform is the parameters and limitations in place. What is possible with just one piece of paper? How far can this artform be pushed within that limitation and using just a knife, a piece of paper, a pencil and ruler – what can one achieve? Papercutting comes with many technical limitations and within that comes a freedom and a peace that I have not managed to find anywhere else. Below are some images of my works:





I have just had my first solo exhibition in a contemporary gallery, the body of work was title ‘Finding the Pattern’, more information and to view the catalogue go here: https://candicebermangallery.co.za/exhibitions-art-fairs/mariapaola-mcgurk/.
I am thrilled to be a member of the Guild of American Papercutters and would love to exhibit alongside fellow papercutting artists and collaborate on projects. Thank you for accepting me a sa member and I hope it leads to many collaborations and learning opportunities.
Facebook/Linkedin: Mariapaola McGurk
Instagram: m9_art
Great article! Will definitely go and and look at the other artists you referenced,
Keep up the amazing papercutting
Thank you so much Carla!!
Your work is simply amazing! Very interesting article and thanks for sharing 🙏
Thanks for the interest Kim! Much appreciated!!