White Hand, 2007

I always thought origami was the height of artistic creation involving paper. But no! Peter Callesen has taken it one step further with his delicate and awe inspiring 3D paper art. I know I say this every Artist of the Week, but the man is a genius! Just look at the detail and creativity in his art. I imagine if I attempted to do something like this I would have footprints all over them, with lots of torn pieces which have been sticky-taped together.

Peter Callesen was born in Denmark and lives and works in Copenhagen. His art reveals fantastical, often freaky or melancholic subject matter, always with profound detail and an exceptionally scrupulous technique. Not only does he work with A4 sheets of paper, but he also delves into performance art and huge installations (see photos below). One of my favourite performance art pieces is the Jukebox. Callesen sits in a giant cardboard box which is made to look like a jukebox. People put in 10 pence and press a button for which song they’d like to hear. Callesen then sings the song request. He does this for four hours! You can actually hear him singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on his website - it’s pretty funny. I think that’s a great idea for a busker, too.

Distant Wish (detail), 2006

Half Way Through (detail), 2006

Dead Angels, 2007

Impenetrable Castle (detail), 2005

Babel, 2007, Inter active sound installation

Yes, this staircase is made from paper!

There’s waaay more cool stuff to view on his website, including videos. You must check him out! He’s definitely worth your time.

Big love & paper planes,