A Paper-Cutting Artist
The work of Hobo Komiyama ( 小宮山 逢邦) (Tokyo, 1946) stands out in the field of kirie (切り絵), the traditional Japanese art of paper cutting. After studying at Hobo Musashino Art University and becoming a researcher at the Rokugatsu Gekijo Theater Company, he began his career as a paper-cutting artist in 1975. His work explores a wide range of themes, from scenes of The Tale of Genji to eroticism, as evidenced in publications such as Eros of Kirie (2002) and its subsequent editions and calendars. Through his technique, Hobo Komiyama uses kirie to craft compositions that evoke sensuality, desire, and mystery, merging the tradition of paper cutting with a contemporary perspective on the representation of the body and intimacy.
In his images, eroticism emerges from bodies in motion, where tension and drama interact with light and shadow, suggesting both revelation and concealment. The choice of kirie as a medium is significant, as the technique relies on the removal of material to create form, generating figures that seem to emerge from the paper’s surface as both ethereal and tactile shapes, where emptiness becomes as expressive as the filled spaces.
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The Kirie Technique And Visual Eroticism
The kirie technique (the art of paper cutting) has been part of Japanese culture for over a thousand years, initially associated with religious ceremonies and decorative arts. Its roots trace back to China’s Jin dynasty in the 4th century CE, following the invention of paper by Cai Lun in 105 CE. The oldest surviving paper cutout is a symmetrical circle from the Six Dynasties period in the 6th century, found in Xinjiang, China. Japanese paper cutting is known as kirie or kirigami (切り絵 or 切り紙, literally meaning “cut image” or “cut paper”).
The Japanese commercialized hand papermaking, and by around 800 AD, their skills in this craft were widely recognized. The abundance of Japanese washi meant that paper cutting and related branches like kamikiri (performance paper cutting in Edo Japan) developed at a very rapid pace.
Artists working with paper cutouts continue to face the challenge of conveying detail, depth, and expressiveness within a fundamentally binary visual language, based on the contrast between the paper and the background. To overcome this, they employ strategies such as intricate cutouts, layering, and varying the density of negative and positive spaces. The thickness of lines, the selection of contours, and the interplay of empty and filled areas create illusions of volume and texture. Additionally, the manipulation of light and shadow, cast by the cutouts when offset from the background or illuminated from specific angles, adds depth and dynamism to the composition. Thus, even within an apparently simple technique, artists can evoke complex narratives and convey subtle emotions through the precision of their cuts and the relationship between form and void.
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Continue reading in Premium and learn more about Komiyama's dialogue with Japanese erotic tradition, the manifestation of eroticism in his Eros Of Kirie and Tale of Genji series, his participation in the Erotica Japan exhibition at the Erotic Museum in Paris, the aesthetics in Komiyama's erotic work including dozens of striking images.
Click HERE for an article on the erotic illustrations of the acclaimed paper-cutting artist Masayuki Miyata
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