Papercut! at the American Swedish Institute

This weekend I finally had the opportunity to visit the Papercut! an exhibit of amazing psaligraphy (papercutting) at the American Swedish Institute here in Minneapolis.

The exhibits main focus was on the works of Danish-Norwegian artist Karen Bit Vejle. Denmark has a long tradition of papercutting which probably started with gækkebreve where a folded and cut “snowdrop letter” is given to friends through the spring and Easter season. The letter would contain a rhyme or poem. It would not be signed, but instead have dots for each letter of the sender name. If the receiver of the letter could guess the sender correctly they get a treat such as a present or a kiss. If they cannot guess the sender can ask for a treat.

Bit Vejle’s work was amazing, from small pieces the size of a standard sheet of paper to pieces long enough to span a whole wall.

She typically folds the paper to cut symmetrical borders and then adds the middle designs.

The pieces done is colored paper especially stood out against the white and pastel walls of the museum.

Also on display were the works of Sonja Peterson from Minneapolis, who is the artist in residence for the exhibit. I found her pieces to be a little more wild and organic.


There was a lovely 3-D papercut of the museum itself. This type of piece reminds me so much of the ones we saw in Denmark.

We also saw some works of Cyndy McKeen an artist who was trained in Denmark, but also draws inspiration from the time she spent living in Japan.

If you would like to see any of these pictures bigger and see more of my pictures from the exhibit, just click on anyone to be taken to Flickr. Papercut! is at ASI through May 25th.

Want to try your hand at psaligraphy?

 Try our tutorial to make a 3-D papercut angel inspired by Danish Christmas ornaments
Or for something a little more challenging try a paper cut map.

Dr. Russ at NY Star Cards did a nice series a couple years ago called Paper Cutting 101 that is full of tips and tricks.