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A Cut Above: Students Learn the Art of Chinese Paper Cutting
Posted by Communications staff on 5/17/2021
Yvonne Quigley’s students are learning to cut corners – literally.
Since returning to in-person learning, members of Quigley’s Chinese class have been exploring the ancient folk art of paper cutting.
“People find comfort, happiness, and hope in expressing themselves in paper cutting,” Quigley said.
To create their designs, students worked with paper patterns, an engraving knife, and a self-healing mat.
“The proper usage of knife is critical,” Quigley explained. “Students quickly learned how to hold it and press hard to carve into the paper. The key is to make sure all parts of the design are connected. The parts to be cut out are independent.”
Chinese paper cutting themes include weddings, holidays, seasons, flowers, birds, and “all aspects of life in general,” Quigley said.
Most students finished their project in a period or two, depending on the complexity of their design, but were eager to tackle another.
“This is the funnest art project that I’ve done in my whole life,” said Katelynn Frear, an eighth grader from Sacajawea Middle School. “It’s hard at first but after a minute you get used to the movements and it comes out beautifully. It makes it way funnier when you are not doing these kinds of things at home and have to figure out things yourself.”
“I was really excited to do the paper cutting because by cutting out an ox, I got to understand and learn a lot about Chinese culture,” said Sac eighth grader Kai Gerlick. “The art also served as a great way to show the whole school what we do in that class and show off our art skills. It is much better to do these projects in person because you can talk about the project and the culture with other people which helps me learn a lot about China.”
Sacajawea plans to expand their Chinese program to seventh grade this fall, giving more students a chance to cut in to Chinese culture.
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