CREATIONS IN PAPER - CLIVE STEVENS
The Craftsman Magazine, March 1990
When asked what I do for a living and I tell people Paper Sculpture, I'm confronted.by puzzled faces and a long explanation ensues.Most people tend .to thinkof papier mache, decoupage and paper tole when they hear the words paper sculpture, but strictly speaking what I do is construct three-dimensional relief pictures using only plain paper. It might be more aptly named bas relief or constructivism, By building up layers of shaped paper at varying levels I achieve an illusion of depth utilising real light and shade to model the shapes.
Although I spent many an hour as a child cutting out paper figures, I actually made my first paper sculpture in 1980 after having seen some examples of American illustrators' works. It instantly appealed to me, since it combined my love of paper with a fascination for construction and it possessed an innocence somewhere between illustration and real life.
After my first primitive efforts I persevered until I had a piece that I considered worthy of framing. That turned out to be used as the Christmas card for the advertising agency I was working for at the time in Canada. A recipient of one of those cards commissioned me to do a magazine cover for an article on cooking with rye whiskey. Suddenly, I had two printed samples of my work — enough to show in the pursuit of more work! From these I was commissioned to create a picture of Scrooge for a theatre's production of 'A Christmas Carol,' which turned out to be my turning point when I received an illustration award for the piece and from then on found myself working purely on paper sculptures to make my living - a long way from the paper dolls I used to cut out as a child.
In 1985, after having assembled a portfolio of printed samples, I decided to return to my native England and the countryside of Kent that I'd missed for seventeen years. Here I work from my village home communicating by fax machine and telephone through my London agent, Meiklejohn Illustration. They find me most of my work and upon completion of the sculptures, I make a 5" x 4" colour transparency which I send to them to deliver to the client, This set-up allows me to keep in touch with all the major work, nationally and internationally, while still working from a tiny village in the Heart of Kent — Heaven at last!
My approach to a paper sculpture, although not so different to a painter, is to think of my cuts, folds and general construction of the piece. And, of course, in the case of illustrations for the advertising industry, I have to think in terms of the photograph that will be used to reproduce the final image in the magazine or brochure, where light and shade do all the work in giving the sculpture drama and vitality.
I start with small sketches to get the composition right. When this is achieved I do a layout (usually around A4 paper size) that I fax to my agent. I avoid indication of colours or values since they'll change in the finish because of the three dimensional quality. When my original layout has been approved by the client, I do a working drawing with a soft black pencil to the size I am going to work. If there is a lot of fine detail I will have to work to a larger scale than normal. This drawing is an outline of every shape in the sculpture, on a medium weight tracing paper. I spray the drawing with fixative and rub a light blue pastel on its face as a transfer medium. I thenselect my paper in the colours to be used and, using a 61-t pencil,,trace each shape in reverse onto the Back side of the paper, distorting them to allow for bends and curves and completing them to allow for overlap and glue points.
By scoring with a blunt knife or a stylus from the back you can bend the paper in straight lines and curves, or by pulling over the edge of a desk or shaping around a dowel you can achieve sharp and gentle curls. Assembling the piece is much like paper plumbing. Starting with the background, I assemble one piece at a time, each piece being raised slightly above the last until I reach the foreground which is usually the highest part of the sculpture. When I assemble the sculpture I work with a desk lamp positioned to represent the sun or light source and assemble piece by piece to that light, changing whatever doesn't work. This quite often happens, what looked good in the sketch doesn't always work in the sculpture.
My equipment consists of various sizes of scissors, knives, dowels, knitting-needles, scribers — in fact anything I can lay my hands on that I can cut and shape paper with. There is no special kit. The glue I use is white PVA, normally used for woodwork. I find this holds well and works quickly. The best paper to use for sculpting is 100% rag paper since it conforms to many shapes without wrinkling or cockling like many wood chip papers tend to do. If I intend to paint the paper with colour washes, I do this before I cut out any pieces as water tends to flatten out the shaped paper.
Over the past few years a lot of people have shown a fascination for the medium and have wanted to know how to do it, so after a bit of coaxing I've finally given m and now conduct PaperSculpture weekend courses from my village in Kent-Accommodating only small numbers on each course we aim to give people a stimulating and thoroughly enjoyable break-while providing them with all the basic skills to enable them to make their own paper sculpture pictures. All this in the restful-and picturesque heart of the Garden of England.
We offer three courses - Basic Paper Sculpture and Collage, Intermediate Paper Sculpture and Advanced Paper Sculpture. On all courses we send students home with their pieces all mounted and framed ready to hang in a place of honour. All supplies and lunches are included in the price of the course.
We also stock all the materials used on the course so students can take them away to practice their newly acquired skills or if they wish they are all available by mail order,
At present the course is non-residential so we send a recommended list of charming old cottage and farmhouse bed and breakfast accommodation in the surrounding villages. And for evening meals you can't do better than some of our local pubs.
For further information about the weekend courses or materials and supplies contact:
CliveStevens Paper Sculpture studio@clivestevenssculpture.com