Paper Cutaway

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" Seattle artist Lauren Iida builds entire worlds from fragile paper cutouts. Her intricate hand-cut artworks depict everyday objects — electric fans, reading glasses, playing cards, etc. — to create magical webs of recollection. If these are “traps,” they’re highly seductive ones.
And they all tell a story. "
- Michael Upchurch,
The Seattle Times

“Memory Net II: Home” (2019), Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, temporary installation “Sunken Forest,” Oddar Meanchey, Cambodia 10 x 1,5 meters

MEMORY NET

In English, we say we’ve “lost a memory.” The phrase suggests memory has been dropped, misplaced, but not gone. A memory, a loss, may seem absent in our lives but still present in some other way, perhaps on an unseen plane of existence. We say we “dredge up” a memory. The memory sinks, drifts, but with the right line, we might catch it – an object pulled up from the deep.
The Memory Net is a reoccurring temporary installation piece, approximately 30 feet in length and cut by hand from a single piece of paper. The artist travels with the piece and documents it around the world, each setting bringing new meaning to the work.

Detail of the Memory Net

Temporary installation Fremont Foundry, Seattle, Washington, USA 2018

Temporary Installation Koh Rong Island, Cambodia 2018

Temporary Installation, Oddar Meanchey, Cambodia 2019

Temporary Installation Phum Prey Cheteal, Svay Rieng Province, Cambodia 2017

Currently on view at Artxchange Gallery in Seattle, Washington until August 22, 2020 as part of the Seattle Deconstructed Art Fair

32 ASPECTS OF DAILY LIFE

2020
"As her work has developed, Iida has often alternated between exploring her Japanese American family history and documenting her current life living in Cambodia. Currently, Iida has struck an unusual balance by utilizing formats inspired by Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock artists - within this framework that pays homage to her ancestral history, Iida depicts people from her daily life in Cambodia, resulting in in a unique style that reflects the multifaceted culture she has created for herself."
Preview the full catalog and order online here.

PRESS

"7. The Appearance of a Fisherwoman at the Kep Crab Market" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, ink, watercolor, acrylic

6. "Smoky- The Appearance of a Housewife in the Sunken Forest" (2020) Hand-cut paper, ink, acrylic, watercolor

Order Catalog

Currently Available at Open Studio Cambodia

"Peril" (2021) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, watercolor, 50 x 38 inches (127 x 97 cm)

"Endangered" (2021) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, watercolor, 38 x 50 inches (97 x 127 cm)

"Season of Change" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper 50 x 34 inches (127 x 86 cm) SOLD

"Making the Most of It: Rado" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, 38 x 50 inches (127 x 96 cm)

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100 ASPECTS OF THE MOON
2018
This collection features 100 intricately hand-cut works inspired by Japanese woodblock artist, Yoshitoshi's 1890s series by the same name. Each new piece captures a moment from the artist's experience, sometimes inspired by her home in Cambodia, sometimes drawing on her Japanese American family's archive of vintage photographs. All 100 images in this series contain the moon in some way, symbolizing the common thread of humanity through time, distance, and culture. Browse the full series here.

PRESS

"You Have the Sun, I Have the Moon" (2018), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink, watercolor

"I See the Moon and the Moon Sees Me (Think of Love)" (2017), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink, acrylic 8 x 10 inches

"The Patient Captain" (2018), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper, watercolor, acrylic 8 x 10 inches

"The Moon is Not Only Beautiful, It's Also Far Away" (2018), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink, watercolor, acrylic 8 x 10 inches

"Moon and Smoke" (2017), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink, acrylic, watercolor 8 x 10 inches

"Spellbound" (2017), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink, watercolor, acrylic

"A Collection of Things Heard in the Past and Present" (2018), Lauren Iid, Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink, watercolor 5 x7 inches

"Channeling the Moon" (2018), Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink, watercolor 5 x 7 inches

HOW TO TRAP A MEMORY

Solo Exhibition, Artxchange Gallery
Seattle, Washington, 2017
"Intricate paper cutaway works create an intimate portrait of the artist, utilizing a visual language of metaphorical objects traversing a decade living between the United States and Cambodia. Her new collection illustrates how stories and memories accumulate in the corners of our mind and ultimately become a structure we carry with us. Memories become both a burden and safe place of refuge, forming our history and identity. Anchoring the show, a large-scale installation, “Memory Net,” creates a physical structure built of ephemeral memories. Expressively rendered objects including octopus legs, dice, traditional Khmer (Cambodian) scarves and reading glasses are suspended and trapped within a large-scale paper net. Iida’s visual language uses repetition and calculated assemblage to recount the occurrences that form her identity, referencing everything from her educational work in Cambodia to the stories of her Japanese heritage."
PRESS

"Good Luck for You" (2017) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, 38 x 50 inches SOLD

"How to Trap a Memory" exhibition at Artxchange Gallery

“Trapped II” (2017) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, 11 x 7 inches SOLD

Detail of "Shared Histories: Tule Lake" (2017), hand-cut paper, ink

REVERIE

Java Creative Cafe
Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 2017
"Java welcomes Lauren Iida, a papercut artist whose detailed work sensitively captures the minutiae of Cambodian life. Every composition is a carefully selected moment filled with gesture and potential that seems to allude to something that just happened or is about to. Iida transforms the flat surface of paper to a multi-dimensional sculpture, constructing layers, textures and accentuating the play of light and shadows.
This exhibition brings together a series of intimate portraits and chaotic urbanscapes – something that, as Iida explains, represents her experience of life in Cambodia."

“Anticipation III: Srey Leak” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 7 x 11.25 inches

“Anticipation II: Sok Kai” (SOLD) Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 11 x 8.25 inches

“Anticipation I: Phaly” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 11 x 8.25 inches SOLD

“Unspoken” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 14 x 28 inches

“Vertical Landscape I: Street 258” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 18 x 23.75 inches SOLD

“Vertical Landscape II: Kampot” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink 18 x 23.75 SOLD

“Mai Mai” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 14 x 11.25 SOLD

“Interference” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 38 x 50 inches SOLD

"Momentary" (2017) Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 38 x 50 inches SOLD

"Nourishing You" (2017) Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 18 x 14 inches SOLD

“The Laundress” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink 9.25 x 13 inches SOLD

"Sacrifice” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink 17 x 10.5 inches

“Static” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink 11 x 8.75 SOLD

"Turned Away, Mondulkiri" (2017) Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 4.5 x 11 inches SOLD