- Name: Ciaran ua Meic Thire
- Project: Ise Katagami Tiger
- Location: Barony of Carillion
- EK Wiki link: https://wiki.eastkingdom.org/wiki/Ciaran_Ua_Meic_Thire
- Blog Link: https://darkwolfdesigns.wordpress.com/?_gl=1*4tsp33*_gcl_au*MTQzMjI3ODYyMi4xNzQyNjc5NTEw
- Category: Scribal, Paper Arts
As the invention of paper spread across the world, so too did many cultures discover that paint or pen are not the only way to make art with paper. Within a few hundred years of paper being first brought to Japan in the 8th century CE, three distinct papercut arts emerged: kirigami which involves folding, cutting and then unfolding of the paper (see? paper snowflakes are period!), kamikiri which was a performance art of creating a papercut with music and audience participation, and katagami which was the art of making stencils that would be used in katazome to dye fabrics. The earliest evidence of katagami found was from the Kamakura period (12-14th century CE) and was practiced through the Edo period that began at very beginning of the 16th century to the industrial revolution of Japan in the 19th century. The piece cut here is based on an extant piece from the Edo period (the few extant pieces that exist from pre-Edo tend to be much simpler, most likely because more intricate pieces deteriorated at a faster rate) and is the first time I was able to do so with not only the period techniques but also the period materials as well. For reference, this piece measures about 11″x15.”
Ise Katagami uses a special kind of paper known as shibugami which is made by layering washi paper that is soaked with fermented persimmon juice called kakishibu then dried in then and smoked for seven to ten days. The process would be repeated several times over a period of about 6 months to create a paper that was very tough but also non-absorbent so that it could be used multiple times in stencil dying. Cut on a bamboo cutting board, there were three main styles of creating designs: tsukibori (push carving with a knife), kiribori (drill carving with a semi-circular blade), and dogubori (punch carving using shaped punches). This piece was done in the style of tsukibori using a kiridashi knife which has a small triangular blade sandwiches between two pieces of bamboo that were wrapped together. In period, the design would be drawn on a single sheet of washi paper and then adhered to the shibugami using a rice glue while I used scotch tape instead. Overall, this piece took about 80 hours to cut and I found that while there was no discernable difference in cutting on a bamboo cutting board versus a modern cutting mat or between shibugami and a thicker paper such as cardstock or perg, the kiridashi knife was significantly better for cutting than a modern x-acto blade. I usually have to change x-acto blades 2-3 times minimum for a project of this size because they become duller but with the kiridashi, I did not even need to resharpen it through this project. In fact, through cutting this project and another of equal size and intricacy, the blade is still as sharp as a new x-acto blade with no signs of dulling at all! I am very excited to finally be able to work with the shibugami paper and kiridashi knife both from Japan using traditional techniques and continue my search for extant designs in katagami but also in the other dozen plus period papercut arts from around the world. For additional information about this project and others, please check out my blog through the attached link. More posts to come. If you ever would like to learn more and/or give papercut arts a try, feel free to reach out. Just remember, no matter how difficult a piece looks to cut, it all comes down to just straight lines, curved lines and circles and that you’re already a period papercut artist if you’ve ever made paper snowflakes!
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