Kirigami

KirigamiThe art of Kirigami is very similiar to Origami except rather than folding the paper the paper is cut out to form popup designs.  As you can see from the picture at the left it can involve some very complicated forms and interesting outcomes.

Kids can enjoy the art as it involves paper and scissors and what child hasn’t spent hours cutting paper in their life.

The word kiri in Japanese means “to cut” and the word gami means “paper”.  What is involved is the actual folding of paper much like Origami and then cutting paper to achieve the designs.


Many of us can remember our first Kirigami experience which was cutting snowflakes in school. (surprised?) yes, that was Kirigami.  Paper dolls and flowers are also common school projects we’ve all done.

There are patterns that may be purchased for many of the designs.  Using these designs make it very easy to create complex patterns and good looking results.  It is not necessary to use a pattern many interesting looking patterns can be created by hand.