Art Star

Tag: Squirrel Tacos

  • Upcoming Exhibition with Casey Lynch

    We are really excited to announce a solo exhibition with NJ based papercut artist, Casey Lynch of Squirrel Tacos. You may already be familiar with Casey’s work from the shop and all of our various craft bazaars and pop ups. I found her and her work at Inliquid’s Art For the Cash Poor a year ago and was enchanted. I immediately invited her to be a part of our Art Star family. Her new papercuts will be taking over the walls of our gallery from September 23rd through November 12th. The show is aptly titled, Joy Follows Like a Shadow. We will be hosting an opening reception with the artist on Saturday, Sept 23rd from 6-8pm. We hope to see you there.

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    Artist Statement
    I often feel like a 3D artist working in a 2D medium. There is a drive to add more dimension, to make it more vocal. This show allows the paper cutter in me to live, very happily, with my sculptural heart. The portraits are up to 8 handcut layers of paper, each layer meticulously cut and assembled to build up depth that from a distance, can appear as a pencil drawing and up close seem to be a sea of chaos.

    Meanwhile, the glass on glass frames and the shadow boxes of my single sheet papercuts let the work cast a shadow behind itself. I am intrigued with shadowplay, the themes of shadows in literature, and its failure to exist without light. Shadows allow me to add depth without compromising the clean lines and content created with my knife.

    I make my work with a city dweller in mind, someone who loves the hive of activity but has a need to get lost in the woods to recharge and reanimate. I understand that desire to escape and keep a little wild and wonder in a concrete landscape. I am thrilled to create campers, forests, woodland creatures and mountain tops for this show. A lifetime of sleeping in tents and patiently waiting for owls to respond to my hoots is present in each piece.

    BIO
    Casey Lynch was born into a large family in Philadelphia. Childhood summers were filled with camping trips and exploring the woods. This continued into college where she traveled with the Penn State woodsman team, became a champion axe thrower, and later moved to Teton valley, Idaho. After returning to Philadelphia and experimenting with many craft and art forms she was star struck by papercutting. She started Squirrel Tacos, named for a corn tortilla loving squirrel that begs at the kitchen window, in 2012. Currently she lives in New Jersey, surrounded by woods and water and focuses her work on National Parks, camping, and lighthouses.
    www.squirreltacos.com

  • Meet the Maker: Casey Lynch of Squirrel Tacos

    Hello! I am Casey Lynch and my company is Squirrel Tacos.

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    I grew up in Philadelphia near a small woods and a pond with parents that encouraged nature and art to be part of our lives. As a kid I was in love with all things paper, and burned through a couple blender motors trying to make my own paper pulp. After a few years of traveling and living in Idaho I finished my degree in ceramics at Penn State.

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    The first time I saw a papercut I was at The Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show and I was transfixed. I had found my craft. Paper cutting was not popular at the time and I spent endless hours searching the internet for more information. I learned that it is also known as Kirigama or Scherenschnitte, first came to the U.S as a Pennsylvania Dutch folk tradition and is typically circular and symmetrical. Somehow I wanted to be a paper cutter but not in the traditional style, I wanted to carve free form without using classic iconography. Eventually, I taught myself using a craft knife and dozens of different blades until finally settling on a trusty #11 blade and a Martha Stewart handle.

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    Coming from a sculptural background, working in 2D has presented challenges. My process is to draw out the design and cut away the negative space from a single sheet of archival paper. Once the cut is complete I play with different ways the design can add dimension using shadows. I’ve worked with glass lockets, deep set frames, intricate layered portraits which build dimension, and I’ve had typographical collections; however, the wildlife and nature series are my signature lines. Those pieces are layered in shadowbox frames with National Park Service photographs placed deep enough in the frame to encourage closer inspection.

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    Today I live in New Jersey, once again surrounded by woods and water. Many hundreds of blades, experiments, disasters, and triumphs have contributed to the personality of my work. I aim to marry my love of all things paper, with my reverence for the outdoors, the tiny and great creatures around me, and the world beyond.

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    My company, Squirrel Tacos, is named for a tiny squirrel who has a fondness for eating taco shells at our kitchen window, he is one of many backyard characters that finds their way into my papercuts. I also have pygmy goats, a couple of ginger cats, and a litany of wild creatures keeping me guessing with paw prints and tracks.

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    I am beyond thrilled to be a first time vendor at Art Star Craft Bazaar, come and visit me in booth #90!

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