Upcycling Project – Cardboard Lantern

In recent years, I’ve been really into Japanese culture and art, so I’m going to base my aesthetic for this project on the Ma aesthetic (see this post). I think I really want to make a collage of some sort that features different handmadekatagami stencils. Part of the Ma aesthetic is the rustic, handmade feel or look, so I’m going to avoid using any machines for this project; rather, I’ll rely on myself to be as careful and precise as I can be, just as traditional katagami stencils were made.

I also want to include some modernity to the design. I believe that, by nature, Ma and flat design more-or-less coexist; flat design, in a basic sense, is minimalist and uses simple shapes, and, while Japanese patterns can be intricate, they often are repetitive and are used as accents, whereas the main design features can be simpler shapes.

I will probably use cardboard for this project; I’ve been ordering a lot from Amazon and a lot of the boxes from them and/or the actual products themselves are just going to go to the trash if I don’t use them, so might as well make use of it. I’m going to attempt to make a lamp with the carboard, like in the following picture

Image Sources:
1. https://www.artfixdaily.com/images/c/82/0d/Aug20_katagami900x675.jpg
2. me
3. https://originallamp.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/japanese-wooden-lamp-00017.jpg