Ku Kuo-Hsuan 古國萱
▍Profile
A being——
who draws and writes in silence,
who dreams of making the Earth a better place,
who never resists the joy of embracing Nature.
who works primarily with paper cutting, using scissors to unfold poetic imagery,
who is drawn to the simplicity, rawness, and irreversibility of the medium,
who creates stories, picture books, and poetry.
whose works appear in newspapers, magazines, book illustrations, graphic and product design,
who also shares and teaches paper cutting and picture book making.
▍My Statement
I like scissors.
As they cut through paper, moving forward through the opening and closing of my fingers, palm, and the space between thumb and index finger, I sense the delicate feedback of my skin.
At its core, it is simply about creating—about remembering everything that feels interesting.
Unable to escape my own lazy nature, I find that making art can hardly be easier than this: just scissors and paper.
To shape my mindset rather than my skills, I set two rules for myself:
“No blades, and No drafts.”
Since 2009, with no background in traditional paper cutting, I entered this path almost by accident.
The movement of scissors is entirely different from the way we learn to hold a pen from childhood, making it difficult to control with precision. As someone naturally cautious, I went through frustration again and again—facing the irreversible nature of each result.
And then I would convince my mind:
“Ah, this is more interesting than I first thought.”
As I learn to accept that each work will grow into its own form, something in my character begins to loosen.
Over the years, I have held several solo exhibitions and participated in many group exhibitions.
I initiated an ongoing project called “Paper Cuts Exchange”, through which people exchange poems, images, or unexpected objects with my paper-cut works. This project has continued for years.
It has expanded from small pieces of colored paper to large-scale spatial installations; from images to cutting “language itself”; from flat surfaces to three-dimensional forms; from monochrome to collage; from figuration to abstraction; and from long scrolls to animation…
I have collaborated with different people in different ways, always excited by the sparks generated through these encounters.
Every new attempt is an adventure—a creative journey shaped by shifting light and shadow.