"Chigirie" - Painting with Japanese Paper

The paper making was invented in ancient China; in the beginning, paper was made of bamboo or straw. After it was introduced into Japan in the 6th century, these materials changed into a paper mulberry with much longer fiber.

What is the difference between Japanese paper and ordinary paper, which is often called "western paper" in Japan?

The fibers used as material for theJapanese paper are much longer (2-15mm) than those of the western paper (less than 2 mm). In addition to this, because of the peculiar process of manual paper making developed in our country, the Japanese Paper can be very thin and is at the same time very strong and elastic with fibers well mixed and combined.

So,what kind of painting is CHIGIRIE?

It's a kind of collage painted with Japanese paper, one can say, but not ordinary ones as you image by the word "collage".

Colored (dyed) Japanese paper is used to paint (make) CHIGIRIE as a substitute for paints of watercolor or oil painting.

The Japanese paper mainly used for this purpose is soft and absorbent paper suited to be dyed to create both sharp and soft, and hard and feathery patterns, hues and colors. Often it happens that the delicate patterns, hues or subtle colors of the dyed paper lead painters to unexpected ideas or images to use in the the painting.

What is the meaning of "Chigirie"?

The Japanese word "CHIGIRIE" is a combination of two basic words "chigiri" and "-e". "Chigiri" is the noun form of the verb "chigiru" which means "to tear" and "-e" an art work or picture. So CHIGIRIE implies an art work or picture painted through tearing of paper .

It should be said that because of this method of tearing paper , it brings about characteristic appearance of softness and tenderness when this method is used.

Of course cutting with knife or scissors is not prohibitted at all, especially when your fingertips cannot tear pieces too thin or too small, or even when you want pieces cut with sharp edges.

Chigirie is a fun and relaxing art that can convey the artists feelings and personality for the enjoyment of everyone.

Usually subjects for CHIGIRIE are popular flowers and peaceful landscapes.

camellia

cherry blossom

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