History of Scherenschnitte

The Chinese take credit for originating the art of paper cutwork. It crossed Asia into Europe, where the Swiss, Dutch, German and Polish took it up in the early 1500’s. Even the Great Dane himself, Hans Christian Andersen, may have delighted in papercutting as the eye-catching zenith to his story-telling performances. Yet it is the Germans who merit the position of honor in the art of scherenschnitte, and to whom folk art devotees are beholden.

Scherenschnitte, the art of “scissor snipping” or “scissor cutting,“ made its way to America in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania in search of religious freedom. Among them were settlers with a creative flair who had an eye, and hand, for scherenschnitte. Paper cutwork enabled them to connect with their birthplace while strengthening ties to their new land... scherenschnitte focuses on life’s significant passages: birth, schooling, courtship, marriage, family and death.

Papercutting gained limited popularity in other regions of the country, notably along the Eastern seacoast. Yet, scherenschnitte remains rooted in Pennsylvania German communities.
Well-executed scherenschnitte is visually stunning. The work is underscored by complex, principally symmetrical, highly elaborate, and breathtakingly artistic designs. Birds, animals, flowers, trees, hearts and other figures are inventively incorporated. Fancy scrolls often are inscribed with verses, names and locales.

Accomplished papercutters took pride in working freehand, without the aid of drawings or guides. Using sharp scissors, or sometimes sharp knives, they cut their motifs with exact precision, most often from a single piece of intricately folded paper. For dazzling impact, a papercutter could decide to add separate, layered cutouts, as well as watercolor and ink embellishments. On occasion, he or she might use the technique of “pinpricking,” using varying pin widths to create texture and enhance dimensional features.

With many of my works, the intricate scherenschnitte forms the base of each design. I will sometimes cut additional pieces of paper and add them above or under the base cutting to create a focal point. Other times I add touches of watercolor/acrylic paint, colored pencils or ink to give dimensional texture. I also like to do calligraphy and incorporate this into many of my designs. I never glue down my cuttings completely...I float them on the back mat because I feel the shadows created from this 3-dimensional technique play an important role in the final composition.

In my art, I use acid-free, imported Mi Tientes papers, Chinese silk or rice paper. I have a variety of colors but mostly work in white, cream or black papers. I mostly use the blace paper for silhouettes. If my cutting is done on dark paper the mat will be light colored and if the cutting is white or cream I will use a dark toned mat. The added layers of paper are attached with a dot of acid free glue.

Copyright Kat Grau, KCG Designs, November 2009