The art of paper cutting in China may date back to the 2nd century CE, when paper was invented by Cai Lun, a court official of the Eastern Han dynasty.
Paper craft is a collection of crafts using paper or card as the primary artistic medium for the creation of two or three-dimensional objects. Paper and card stock lend themselves to a wide range of techniques and can be folded, curved, bent, cut, glued, molded, stitched, or layered. Papermaking by hand is also a paper craft.
La Calavera Catrina had its origin as a zinc etching created by the Mexican printmaker and lithographer José Guadalupe Posada (1852–1913). The image is usually dated c. 1910-12. Its first certain publication date is 1913, when it appeared in a satiric broadside as a photo-relief etching.
Amate is a type of bark paper that has been manufactured in Mexico since the precontact times. It was used primarily to create codices.
Straw paintings are craft objects made by shaping straw into patterns and representational images.
Papercutting or paper cutting is the art of paper designs. Art has evolved all over the world to adapt to different cultural styles. One traditional distinction most styles share is that the designs are cut from a single sheet of paper as opposed to multiple adjoining sheets as in collage.
María Izquierdo was a Mexican painter. She is known for being the first Mexican woman to have her artwork exhibited in the United States. She committed her life and career to art that displayed her Mexican roots, and held her own among famous make Mexican artists such as Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros.
Carmen Lomas Garza is an Chicana artist and illustrator. She is well known for her paintings, ofrendas and for her papel picado work inspired by her Mexican-American heritage. Her work is a part of the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the National Museum of Mexican Art, the San Jose Museum of Art, the Mexican Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Oakland Museum of California, among other institutions.
Herminia Albarrán Romero is a Mexican-American artist known for her papel picado and altar-making. She received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2005, which is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
María Dolores Velázquez Rivas, better known as "Lola" Cueto was a Mexican painter, printmaker, puppet designer and puppeteer. She is best known for her work in children's theater, creating sets, puppets and theatre companies performing pieces for educational purposes. Cueto took her last name from husband Germán Cueto, which whom she had two daughters, one of whom is noted playwright and puppeteer Mireya Cueto. Most of Cueto's artistic interest was related to Mexican handcrafts and folk art, either creating paintings about it or creating traditional works such as tapestries, papel picado and traditional Mexican toys.
Mexican handcrafts and folk art is a complex collection of items made with various materials and intended for utilitarian, decorative or other purposes. Some of the items produced by hand in this country include ceramics, wall hangings, vases, furniture, textiles and much more. In Mexico, both crafts created for utilitarian purposes and folk art are collectively known as “artesanía” as both have a similar history and both are a valued part of Mexico's national identity. Mexico's artesanía tradition is a blend of indigenous and European techniques and designs. This blending, called “mestizo” was particularly emphasized by Mexico's political, intellectual and artistic elite in the early 20th century after the Mexican Revolution toppled Porfirio Díaz’s French-style and modernization-focused presidency. Today, Mexican artesanía is exported and is one of the reasons why tourists are attracted to the country. However, competition from manufactured products and imitations from countries like China have caused problems for Mexico’s artisans.
San Salvador Huixcolotla is a town and municipality in the Mexican state of Puebla in southeastern Mexico that may be best known as the birthplace of papel picado. San Salvador is of Spanish origin and translates to "Holy Savior" and Huixcolotla is Nahuatl for "place of the curved spines".
Jewish paper cutting is a traditional form of Jewish folk art made by cutting figures and sentences in paper or parchment. It is connected with various customs and ceremonies, and associated with holidays and family life. Paper cuts often decorated ketubbot, Mizrahs, and ornaments for festive occasions. Paper cutting was practiced by Jewish communities in both Eastern Europe and North Africa and the Middle East for centuries and has seen a revival in modern times in Israel and elsewhere.
Cartonería or papier-mâché sculptures are a traditional handcraft in Mexico. The papier-mâché works are also called "carton piedra" for the rigidness of the final product. These sculptures today are generally made for certain yearly celebrations, especially for the Burning of Judas during Holy Week and various decorative items for Day of the Dead. However, they also include piñatas, mojigangas, masks, dolls and more made for various other occasions. There is also a significant market for collectors as well. Papier-mâché was introduced into Mexico during the colonial period, originally to make items for church. Since then, the craft has developed, especially in central Mexico. In the 20th century, the creation of works by Mexico City artisans Pedro Linares and Carmen Caballo Sevilla were recognized as works of art with patrons such as Diego Rivera. The craft has become less popular with more recent generations, but various government and cultural institutions work to preserve it.
Shanghai-style papercutting is a variety of papercutting practiced in south China, and in particular in Shanghai.
An ofrenda is the offering placed in a home altar during the annual and traditionally Mexican Día de los Muertos celebration. An ofrenda, which may be quite large and elaborate, is usually created by the family members of a person who has died and is intended to welcome the deceased to the altar setting.
Rodolfo Villena Hernández is a Mexican artisan who specializes in “cartonería” a type of hard paper mache used to sculpt piñatas, holiday decorations, Judas figures as well as the building of monumental works which have been exhibited in Puebla, Mexico City and Chicago. He has also been involved in theater. His work has been recognized with various awards over his career.
Handcrafts and folk art in Mexico City is a microcosm of handcraft production in most of the rest of country. One reason for this is that the city has attracted migration from other parts of Mexico, bringing these crafts. The most important handcraft in the city is the working of a hard paper mache called cartonería, used to make piñatas and other items related to various annual celebrations. It is also used to make fantastic creatures called alebrijes, which originated here in the 20th century. While there are handcrafts made in the city, the capital is better known for selling and promoting crafts from other parts of the country, both fine, very traditional wares and inexpensive curio types, in outlets from fine shops to street markets.
Pabalat is a form of papercutting originating in the province of Bulacan in the Philippines. It involves making intricate papercut designs from wrappers used in pastillas and laminated as bookmarks, and usually made from papel de japon. Among the well-known practitioners of the craft are San Miguel residents Nene Luz Ocampo and her daughter, Naty Ocampo-Castro.
Betsabeé Romero is a Mexican visual artist. Her works include sculptures, installations, printmaking, perforated paper, photographs, and videos. She has exhibited widely, and has been featured in more than forty one-person exhibitions in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe.
