Artist's Intricate Newspaper Papercuts Carve Out a Deeper Story

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Updated January 31, 2020

For generations, newspapers and other forms of printed publications have brought us stories about happenings not only in our local communities, but also in the wider world. They might be stories with a serious bent, or human-interest stories that move and inspire us.

But newspapers can also be a work of art, as Montreal, Canada-based artist Myriam Dion elegantly shows with her delicate paper-cut art, meticulously crafted out of newspapers both new and old. Having seen her work previously, we are again mesmerized by her latest works, which are even more intricate and finely detailed than ever before.

© Myriam Dion

Dion's creative process includes reading the newspapers she selects from beginning to end. She then re-interprets the often dire stories in her own way, by carving out and obscuring the original text and images with her own patterns and message, to compel the viewer to see thing in another way.

© Myriam Dion

In addition to her skillful cuts and intriguing compositions, she adds extra details like colours and gilded elements to give the pieces a visual integrity.

As Dion says in this interview with the Huffington Post:

By crafting thoughtful mosaics out of the world events, I question our appetite for sound-bite news and sensational art, showing the quiet power of a patient hand and an inquisitive eye, I am creating a new newspaper that can be interpreted, that encourages people to think more deeply about the news that we consume too easily.

It's true that the constant churn of the media engine can lead us to a habit of voracious consumption, without the necessary effort of deeper digestion. Thankfully, Dion's splendidly ephemeral artworks prompt us to contemplate much further than surface appearances. To see more, visit Division Gallery
and Myriam Dion.