When we think about sculpture we tend to imagine grand-scale artworks in solid bronze, wood or stone – strong, permanent objects offering immortality to their creators.
Yet it’s paper, the most ephemeral, flimsy, disposable of materials, which London-based artist Peter Niczewski chooses to create his paper flowers – pure, elegant, fragile and ultimately short-lived objects which, despite their intricacy, he says he discovered by accident.
‘A friend had just had a baby and I wanted to take flowers. Unfortunately it was a Sunday and there wasn’t much choice at my corner shop. I took a sheet of paper and began cutting and folding until I’d created an impression of an iris. It seemed to work.’
The paper flower may have been created on a whim, but the material itself refers to a little known Polish tradition, which was handed down to UK-born Niczewski from his Polish father.
The period between the First and Second World Wars was the first in which Poland had been an independent country in over 200 years. The newly free – yet poor - education system designed a new curriculum in which paper sculpture was taught to all children, the material being cheap and accessible to even the smallest schools.
‘I love the idea that I can sit down with a sheet of paper, a knife and a pot of glue, and that hours later I have created an object that can bring pleasure to others. It’s like making something out of nothing.’
This purity was formerly the driving force behind Niczewski’s determination to avoid the use of colour in his work. Until recently his flowers were always white, whether his life-sized gallery bouquets, the giant heads used in fashion and beauty photoshoots for clients ranging from L’Oreal to Marie Claire, and even those displayed in the UK Big Brother house.
But then he was commissioned to design a five foot paper Christmas tree for a London restaurant – in red. ‘I hated the idea and thought it would look awful. But it was actually really effective, and forced me to consider using paint and colour in my other work. I’ve since made red roses for Valentine’s Day. They’re gorgeous and I think they’re more permanent too.’
The fact that his paper work won’t last forever can be an irritant for Niczewski. ‘The idea forces me to look for other ways I can create fluid objects which will last. I may venture into ceramics, as I like the idea that you can freely mould a shape, before firing and transforming it into a lasting object.’
Orders and requests for more information can be sent to direct to the artist.
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