Art-Making Activity: Paper Relief Sculpture

INTRODUCTION  

Brazilian artist Henrique Oliveira was born in 1973 in Ourinhos, São Paulo and is known for creating large works that often overtake a physical space allowing viewers to walk through and around his wooden installations. Though, Xilempasto 6 is not meant to be seen from all sides, it does enter into the viewer’s space as the organic forms protrude off the wall. 

Do you notice how the pieces of wood in this sculpture are raised from a base? Henrique Oliveira’s sculpture can also be called a relief, or a sculpture that is typically mounted on a wall, and has three-dimensional elements raised from a flat surface. 

Using salvaged plywood divided into strips, Oliveira built this work scrap by scrap, then painted the rough surface. The title, Xilempasto 6, is a made-up word referring to an art term impasto, which is the technique of laying on paint thickly so that it stands out from a surface. 

“[Xilempasto 6] came from the idea of painting as a flat surface. The wood reminded me of brushstrokes, and I began exploring the properties of this material.”—Henrique Oliveira

Feeling inspired by the work of Henrique Oliveira? Trying using paper to make a three-dimensional paper relief sculpture to display at home!

CREATE

Materials

• Variety of paper (cardstock, magazine paper, notebook paper, scrapbook paper, construction paper, tissue paper)  
• Glue stick 
• Tape 
• Yarn or string 
• Optional: Ruler, drawing materials (markers, colored pencils, crayons)

Techniques

There are many ways to manipulate paper to make it three-dimensional! Use the descriptions and example image below to create your paper relief sculpture.

Spiral – Rotate your paper in a circular motion while you cut. 

Loop – Connect two ends of a strip of paper to form a loop, then secure with tape or glue. 

Pinch – Pinch your paper into a three-dimensional form. 

Fringe – Cut strips of paper.  

Chain – Connect two ends of a strip of paper, overlap the ends to create a circle, then secure with tape or glue. Feed another strip of paper through the circle and create another chain.  

Curl – Roll a strip of paper until it becomes a curl. 

Cut on Fold – Fold paper and cut shapes along the crease. 

Fold – Bend your paper back and forth like a fan. 

Roll – Roll one end of paper to the other end, then secure where the edges meet with tape or glue. 

Tear – Slowly create a controlled tear. 

Instructions