Create your own cut-out scene by Alej Ez
Brighton Lovers I
Brighton Lovers II
Night on the Tiles Brighton
Barcelona Lovers
Coming soon – Wales Lovers
Instructions
You need a scalpel or a cutter, scissors
and blu-tak. Contains three sheets of Fabriano
paper. Design printed with archival inks.
Cut out the window opening and the picture
frame on the wall. Cut out the subjects. You don’t
need to be too precise. Fix your scene with blu-tak.
The possibilities are endless.
You to change the design whenever you like.
Please tag me with a photo of your creation @alejezart
www.alejez.com
Recently I have begun experimenting with paper cut-outs of figures and interiors, moving people around a scene by hand, almost like directing a theatre production. A slight movement of one figure can completely change the emotional meaning of an image.
Two people sitting close together can suggest intimacy.
Move one figure a few centimetres away and suddenly the picture speaks about everyday domesticity. .
A doorway becomes an invitation.
A chair becomes a place of waiting.
The possibilities are endless, and I find them endlessly fascinating.
The people who appear in these scenes are often those closest to me—friends, family and people I know well. The interiors are familiar too: homes I have visited, places where conversations have taken place, rooms filled with memories.
Sometimes I share the finished images with the people who inspired them.
Their reactions are among the greatest pleasures of my work.
Financially, these experiments do not always make much sense. Like many artists, I have to balance projects that pay the bills with projects that satisfy my curiosity.
But I have learnt something important over the years.
If you have a little security, you should allow yourself to experiment.
Not every idea needs an immediate commercial purpose.
Some of the most rewarding work grows from simple curiosity.
That, perhaps, is another gift of the Magic Box of Projects.
It gives me permission to dream first and work out the practicalities later.
I never know which idea will become the next exhibition, the next print or the next chapter in my artistic journey.
And that uncertainty is part of the joy.
