Self-taught artist Gunjan Aylawadi uses personal reflections to create intricate pieces that are the results of a complex paper weaving process. The artist cuts and curls small strips of paper and weaves these into what she calls “paper tapestries” — works that appear to be made of anything but paper when seen from afar. Her pieces also weave together a confluence of cultural influences and thoughts on human identity.“Having grown up in India amongst tremendous economic diversity and now living in Australia amongst huge cultural diversity, the contrast between different cultures, ways of consumption, or just personal beliefs has never been more vivid for me,” Aylawadi says. “Through this intricate paper tapestry technique, I've attempted to propose a place where faith, culture and individual identities meet. All our identities co-exist much as threads in a tapestry, where some differences are so striking and other boundaries so blurred that it is difficult to pinpoint where one begins and another ends.”Her pieces, then, become a way to mirror “our various identities and attempts to appear not as we are.”Aylawadi recognizes that her work often appears to be made of fabric. Created with a precision that results in a stunning intricacy, each works uses paper in an unexpected way.This process highlights the poignancy of each piece on a personal level as well. With each work, Aylawadi enters a meditative space and exposes viewers to “the quiet power of slowing down and a thoughtful absorption of our environments.”To learn more about Gunjan Aylawadi, click here.Related:The Animated Paper World of Ollanski & CrisThese Tasty-Looking Foods Are Actually Sculpted PaperA Physicist Is Crafting MIDI Controllers Out of Paper
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