all images by Hiroki Saito | used with permission
Hiroki Saito first discovered the art of kirie in high school. And for the past 8 years he has been perfecting his craft. Saito’s dedication is evident in his work, which features meticulous and delicate incisions that render cityscapes so lifelike they could easily be mistaken for photographs.
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Kirie (切り絵, literally ‘cut picture’) is the Japanese art of paper-cutting. Variations of kirie can be found in cultures around the world but the Japanese version is said to be derived from religious ceremonies and can be traced back to around the AD 700s. In its most conventional form, negative space is cut from a single sheet of paper and then contrasted against a background to reveal a rendering.
Saito will occasionally provide glimpses into the making of his works, a process that can take up to several months for completion. You can keep up with Hiroki Saito’s work on Twitter.
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