Cutting to the Heart of it

Olympia Artist Turns Paper into Pictures


Lying on the grass looking past her toes up to the sky, she can’t help but think about the pull of gravity and how it keeps her grounded. Bare baby legs and swimming salmon make her remember why it’s important to keep water clean. Crows and seagulls waging war to win scraps from a city garbage can inspire her.

Much of Nikki McClure’s art appears to be black-and-white. But simple, it is not. The self-taught Olympia artist does a lot of different things, but what she’s known for are her intricate paper cuts – art she creates with an X-Acto knife against black paper. Her cuts are full of details – patterns on leaves, expressions on faces – all while keeping the paper connected. Sizes vary from Band-Aid-sized pieces to larger poster-sized pieces.

Read more about McClure’s art in the spring issue of South Sound magazine at southsoundmag.com