Today I am so happy to introduce you all to paper cut artist extraordinaire, Claire Cassidy from Studio Flos.
I came across Claire’s work earlier this year whilst searching for fun feeds to follow on Instagram, and immediately fell in love with her cute, fun and quirky paper cut art.
Originally from the UK, and now residing in Sydney, Claire’s mini paper artworks allow a little peek into the lives of everyday women. Women of all shapes, sizes, & colour, both naked and clothed.
Claire’s choice of shapes, composition and colour not only make for wonderfully charming pieces of art, but they help celebrate the everyday women who inspire her work.
Scroll down below to read my interview with Claire and get a little insight into her processes, inspirations and her favourite lady swimming pool in Sydney.
And please let me know in the comments, who is your favourite Studio Flos lady featured below?
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what led you to creating your paper cuts and Studio Flos?
My name is Claire and I come from London, UK. I’ve been living in Sydney, Australia for the past five years with my husband and more recently our cute cat. I’ve been painting and drawing since I could hold a pencil, and have always dabbled in creative projects outside of work, like blogging, photography and styling. I absolutely love paper goods and have a collection of beautiful paper items, most of them will never be used because they are too special (I realise this might seem a bit crazy!) – I think it is this love of paper that has ultimately led me to create paper cuts. Recently I decided to dedicate some more time to creating art, and Studio Flos was born. I didn’t start out with a specific idea in mind, it really all began with my ‘shower lady’ and has spiralled from there. For me this really is a hobby, an outlet. I have no formal art training, I just love creating.
How would you describe your work?
My paper cuts are a somewhat light-hearted look at women’s lives and thoughts. I like to show women of different skin colour and shapes, and I also like to show a lot of naked ladies! Everyone is beautiful, clothed or naked. I think it’s important for female nudity to be de-sexualised – being sexual is fantastic but the body is for so much more than just that.
Can you give us some insight into your process?
Each paper cut always starts as a rough pencil drawing in my big sketch book. This gives me a chance to see if my idea will work, and how I will construct the piece. I usually don’t decide on skin and hair colour until I start cutting. I always cut the main body first, and build from there – the most important thing to remember when cutting each little piece is that you have to draw it backwards, as you flip the paper over once it is cut – this can be tricky with some of the more intricate pieces. I only use paper, a scalpel and a glue stick.
Your paper cuts are quite detailed for their size, what size are they on average?
I am not particularly consistent with size! Most of my ladies are between 8cm-12cm tall, this seems to be a good size to get enough detail but still keep them fairly small. Sometimes I like to make them smaller just because, depends on my mood!
What inspires your artworks?
So many things. You might have noticed that I only illustrate women. This is intentional, for now at least.
Most of my pieces are inspired by everyday things – a conversation with a friend, something in the news, things going on in my life. I like to mix up mundane subject matter with more magical ideas. I also really enjoy giving my ladies two poses, so I consider this from the start and often the first idea sparks the second pose. The two poses are not random, they always have a connection. I’m not sure that anyone looks back at both versions to see the connection but I still like to create them like that – to me it gives each lady more of a personality and story.
What are 3 of your favourite resources which you look to for inspiration?
Inspiration can really strike from anywhere, I often save images on instagram (love this new feature) if they spark some inspiration, and I also look to my favourite clothing brands for outfit ideas. I have a lot of postcards from exhibitions I’ve been to over the years, so often refer to these for colour inspiration.
Tell us about some of the people who inspire you and why?
I am really inspired by women creating from the heart, whether it is art, music, writing, anything. My favourite artists at the moment are Frances Cannon and Caroline Walls. Both of them draw women in very different but amazing ways. I have also been obsessed with Stella Maria Baer for a long time, it is my dream to own one of her original moon paintings.
If you could create a paper cut for anyone in the world, who would it be?
Oh my gosh, this is so tricky! I have already created a little portrait of Beyonce, but I think to create one actually FOR her would be amazing!
What would your dream project be?
Another tricky question! I feel like I have just started out doing this, and I have so many ideas and so little time to execute them all. I would love to create a giant paper mural filled with my ladies. I’m not sure who for or where though!
Your favourite place in Sydney?
Seeing as we have just come out of the hottest summer ever, I think I have to say the ocean. There is a female-only ocean pool at Coogee beach called McIvers Ladies Baths. It is a gloriously calm, serene place and you can get your boobs out in total comfort.
You can follow Claire on Instagram at @studioflos
A lovely feature article Luciana. What a delight she is.
How gorgeous! I loved reading the thought process behind the cuts, she sound’s like a very fascinating woman 😊