REMARKABLE PAPER SCULPTURES FROM ROGAN BROWN
And by remarkable, I think I might mean gobsmacking! What you are looking at is paper. Paper! How does someone have the patience and vision to create something this beautiful out of paper? I haven’t stopped thinking about these incredible and oh-so-intricate paper sculptures since I found artist Rogan Brown. Each time I look I discover a new microscopic detail that takes my breath away! How does he do this? How long it must take him to create these sculptures? Truly in awe of him and his work so I had to take a deeper dive.
THE BYPRODUCT OF HIS PROCESS IS ART WITHIN ITSELF. All Photos Courtesy of Rogan Brown.
Speaking of inspiring, Rogan Brow is directly inspired by the narratives of scientific discovery — “My work comes into being in the space where science fact and science fiction meet and merge.” He works as a non-scientist to visualize and comprehend the world of scientists to an outsider. The result — incredibly detailed paper sculptures that can change our perception of simple bacteria through contemporary culture. He aims to transform the perception and shift the world’s comprehension and consumption of the physical world.
“A recurrent theme in my work is the limitations of science when confronted by the vast scale and complexity of nature. Science’s goal of containing and defining nature is constantly subverted and fractured by the sheer volume and variety of data that needs to be observed, analyzed, and classified. This is figured in the excessive detail that characterizes my work as I attempt to overwhelm the eye through the scale and volume of what I depict.”
The process of Brown’s work is as crucial as the material. He hand cuts large pieces using sheet after sheet of paper with a scalpel in a calculated scientific fashion. This process alone can sometimes take months to complete, a slow act of repetition in a process that is also seen dominating nature — growth, decay, re-growth.
Rogan gravitated towards paper as a medium due to its accessibility and simplicity. Paper incorporates the paradoxical qualities of nature — fragility, durability, strength, and delicacy. A poetic nod perhaps, by taking this material that was made from the trees of the forest and manipulating it back to reflect its origins of nature.
“The transformation of a banal quotidian material into something visually extraordinary parallels and echoes the radical changes in our vision of the familiar world that science engenders.” His ability to transform a simple everyday object truly speaks to his talent. I still cannot believe he makes this out of paper and I rarely feel this excited by someone’s art form than I do about Rogan’s work. This feels utterly unique in this world and once again, one day I hope to own a piece by this talented soul. Imagine how many hours I could spend staring totally in awe at one of his pieces? Many, many hours indeed.