flexible paper sculptures made up of thousands of layers by li hongbo

flexible paper sculptures made up of thousands of layers by li hongbo‘girl I’, 2012 by li hongbopaper, glue, edition of 1dimensions compounded 58 x 33 x 27 cmimage still courtesy dominik mersch gallery

the highly detailed sculptural works by chinese artist li hongbo appear to be made from ceramic at first glance, however, the works are actually created from thousands of layers of soft paper. hongbo creates concertina like structures, that when settled, form the contours of an object – be it a skull, tree or person. upon interaction with the pieces, the objects can be pulled and flexed to reveal the meticulous folding technique implemented to create the work.

the pieces appear to be made from ceramic at first glance, however, the works are actually created from thousands of layers of soft paperimage still courtesy dominik mersch gallery

‘skull’, 2012paper, glue, edition of 1dimensions compounded 24 x 16 x 18 cmimage still courtesy dominik mersch gallery

hongbo creates concertina like structures, that when settled, form the contours of an object – be it a skull, tree or person. image still courtesy dominik mersch gallery

upon interaction with the pieces, the objects can be pulled and flexed to reveal the meticulous folding technique implemented to create the workimage still courtesy dominik mersch gallery

video courtesy dominik mersch gallery, australia