About
The Artist —
Kimberly Low is a designer and artist based in San Francisco, California. She is known for her work with hand cut paper.
She began working with cut paper in her college design classes. The very first pieces were small, abstract compositions that explored color relationships, but it was her final project in an art theory class that started her fascination with cutting ever-smaller, ever-more-detailed shapes. Since then, she’s been drawn to capturing the subtle magic hidden in the simplest and most common of views.
The Process —
How do you decide what to make?
Most pieces are inspired by scenery from local walks and trips. Even if I’m just walking through my neighborhood, down the same streets over and over again, I try to keep my eyes open and notice new details or compositions.
Occasionally, I’ll also channel my emotions around current issues into my work. As a designer, I’m always going down the rabbit hole of “why” and “how” and “what can we do to help people create positive change?” This was the impetus behind the Resilience Flowers series, for instance.
What’s your process?
I snap photographs when I’m inspired on my walks and adventures. Once I get home, I reference these photos and loosely sketch out some small thumbnails. After I create a composition I’m happy with, I hop on my drawing tablet and computer to create a more detailed plan, figuring out colors and adding details. The finished digital drawing is used to create “templates” for the final piece. From there, it’s a series of therapeutic sessions using the humble craft knife, some bookbinding glue, toothpicks, and (sometimes) thread, needle, and an awl.