Appreciating Papercuts

James David, 1990

This piece of art was a thrift shop find a few years back. It is not dated nor signed but I found a few similar ones online that were attributed to a James David and dated 1990. The others are not complete circles, but done in a similar manner. This one seems to be the pièce de résistance of this artist’s work. I could not discover any information about the who, why, where or when, and a common name such as James David will make it impossible to find a specific person. Unfortunate. I would love to know the story behind these projects.

There is a style of art, common in German ancestry, called “scherenschnitte” which translates as “scissor cuts”. This artwork became very popular in the early 1890s in the U.S., and much of it has a primitive, folk style feel. The history (from the Oracle): “[scherenschnitte] often has rotational symmetry within the design, and common forms include silhouettes, valentines, and love letters. The art was founded in Switzerland and Germany in the 16th century and was brought to Colonial America in the 18th century by…immigrants who settled primarily in Pennsylvania.” (1) This piece is composed of cut paper, though not in a folk style, and it requires a moment to appreciate.

From a distance it appears a simple 20” square geometric design in blue and white. With a quick glance, it reads as a printed composition, possibly even painted. However, it actually is a layered construction of cut paper. James David, whoever he is, started with a large square of dark blue paper. He then began cutting cream papers to overlay the blue. The first layer added the vertical stripes to create the 12 arched window silhouettes. After that, James David cut 5 additional layers, with widening openings to create the depth of this piece. 

Now, I don’t have a clue how he did it, but you should appreciate the technical skill in making those lines consistent and smooth. I imagine he used a sharp razor, ruler edge and pencil markings, but any mistakes would be glaring. It reminds me of a story regarding a long-ago neighbor.

A young couple had moved into a house next to us, and the husband started tackling many significant house projects. This included a major overhaul of the small kitchen, and he laboriously installed tiles around the countertops. One day he asked me to come see his handiwork. In typical Erica fashion, I entered, looked around admiringly, and then asked about one small section that looked “off”. Well, yes, he admitted, he had been frustrated in that area, and gave up, simply making something do. Unfortunately for him, my eye immediately saw the dis-symmetry and I learned later he spent hours swearing about me and redoing that section.

While many of us admire applique quilting and oil paintings as being wonderful creations, the truth is those types of construction allow for mistakes to be incorporated. In contrast, a small error can stand out in a way that destroys the overall design in a pieced quilt work, tile work, and, in this case, paper cut art. Yes, the neighbor should be acknowledged for all his efforts. But without identifying a mistake, the project will not read as “perfect”. And that can be just fine. As one of my friends often says “done is good”.

This piece, by James David, is so good it almost seems machine made. In our modern life, things like this often only get a cursory glance, and are dismissed as “yeah, cool but any machine could make that”. But a machine did NOT make this. The point of these treasures, in our ever-evolving world of AI and machines, is appreciating the labor someone spent in the creation. The joy is in the construction, certainly, but also in the appreciation. And I do have to wonder how many papercuts his fingers suffered through. 

(1)         https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scherenschnitte