Painting with Scissors: The Art of Karen Bit Vejle

“Scissors for a Brush” exhibit, Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle

Papercuts by Karen Bit Vejle

I just learned a new word, psaligraphy, which means the art of paper cutting.  Psaligraphic artist, Karen Bit Vejle, has an exhibit of her work at Seattle’s Nordic Heritage Museum.  Called “Scissors for a Brush,” the show displays the delicate, lace-like, “paintings” pressed between clear acrylic frames so that the airy negative spaces and shadows seem as much of the art as the paper.

Karen Bit Vejle is a Danish-Norwegian artist, but the art of papercutting has roots in many other cultures as well such as Japanese kirigami, German scherenschnitte, and Polish wycinanki.  The Seattle exhibit is the first time Karen Bit Vejle’s art has been shown in the United States.  Next year, from January to May 2014, the exhibit will travel to the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. If you can’t see it in person, you can view an online guide with more information about each piece on display at this link.