CHENNAI: A hand peeps out of nowhere and rings a bell. A toddler with a bib cutely poses behind a pillar. A panda plays peek-a-boo behind a door. These are only a few designs portrayed through paper cutting and miniature paper illustrations. Who knew that art on paper carton rolls and paper cups can be amazing tools for storytelling? It’s beyond a cut-and-stick job. A scroll down Swetha Srinivasan’s Instagram page titled Confessions of the Heart, which was started in 2016, will leave you spellbound with the visually appealing line of work.
What started out as a hobby in college turned into a full-fledged craft profession. Her work has garnered patrons across India. Swetha has displayed her work at exhibitions and occasionally conducts workshops. “Creating illustrations on a paper can be a tedious job. One cannot complete a project at a stretch. One has to spend hours cutting and composing coloured cardboard and paper, using various techniques to create objects. My forte is a three-dimensional illustration work. It’s a stepwise process — you decide a theme, cut the paper to the required shape, make objects out of it and paint individually, stick them on the medium, and leave to dry. It might take a week to 20 days depending on the intricacy and size of work,” said the Commerce graduate, who currently resides in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.
Cup series is her latest project. She uses paper cups as a medium of art to give a three-dimensional effect. The cup is placed horizontally, the bottom used as a background, and paper-cut figurines are placed accordingly to complete the piece. “I use paper quilling techniques to make figures and objects. Suitable colours are picked and an acrylic finish is given to the fragile pieces so that they stay intact and also maintain a glossy texture. For posters and cardboard portraits, I use a technique called edging. The objects are placed on the flat surface to give it a two-dimensional look,” she said.
The artist selects her themes either on client requirement or based on personal interest. “Sometimes patrons ask me to recreate their childhood memories. Personalised stories revolving around relationships are fast moving. This art is popular among travellers. They send photos of their holiday destination and ask me to portray them in the form of art, more like a memorabilia,” said Swetha.
She wants to try paper dolls and animotsu, which are small fur dolls. “I want to make interactive and eye-catching animated videos of the making of paper illustrations. It’s a nice way to engage with people interested in that craft,” she said. Swetha ships her products pan India. Visit her Instagram page, Confessions of the Heart