CHINESE PAPER CUT — JIANZHI FOLK ART VISUAL STYLE

VISUAL STYLE: Chinese Jianzhi — the folk art of paper cutting. Single sheets of paper cut with scissors or knife into complex positive and negative designs. The entire image is a single unbroken sheet — what is cut away defines what remains.

COLOUR PALETTE: Traditional Jianzhi palette — brilliant red (#CC0000) paper on white (#FFFFFF) ground, or red on gold (#C9943A). The paper colour is the only colour. No printing, no painting — only the paper itself and the light that shines through the cut areas.

NEGATIVE SPACE: The cut-away areas are as important as the remaining paper. The design is simultaneously positive and negative — figures defined by what surrounds them as much as by their own outline.

SUBJECT MATTER: Traditional motifs — fish, birds, flowers, dragons, cloud forms, geometric borders, human figures in folk costume. Arranged in radial symmetry for circular cuts, or bilateral symmetry for window decorations. Every form connects to the form beside it through shared paper.

CUTTING QUALITY: The edges are clean and precise — no tearing, no fraying. The cut is confident and continuous. Interior details cut from within forms create texture and pattern without breaking the outer silhouette.

LIGHT: Where the paper is cut away, light passes through — creating a glowing negative space against the paper positive. The image exists at the boundary of light and shadow.

No colour other than the paper itself. No painted detail. No three-dimensional form. Only the paper, the cut, and the light that passes through.