I am in Vilnius, Lithuania until Sunday night, and so it’s only appropriate that today’s Friday Artist be Lithuanian. I recently learned that paper cutting is a tradition here dating back to the 16th century. “A Cut out World” is an article I found that highlights a few of these paper artists, and the work of Klaidas Navickas stood out (for me) in particular.
He’s a government lawyer by day and a paper artist by night (and weekend), which only makes him more interesting in my estimation. He says he was at first criticized for introducing non-Lithuanian themes and styles into what some think should be a pure folk tradition, but the beauty and skill of his work has earned him the respect he deserves. (I’m guessing that the works I picked to show above are among his non-traditional works, but the themes pertaining to fertility and religion just didn’t interest me as much.) See more of his work (and about him) here and here. I’m hoping to see some of his work in person while I’m here and perhaps even make a purchase.
that birds one is just astonshing!