Interview with Aiko of Papercut Prayers
Welcome! This is the first instalment of my Creative Interview series. I hope you enjoy it and get much encouragement and insight from it.
(Little disclaimer: I’ve included a few affiliate links to books you can buy from real-life bookshops if you’re in the UK.)
A montage of Aiko with her artwork, shared this year on Instagram.
Firstly, what is your name, and what are you known by online?
My name is Aiko, online I’m “Papercut Prayers.”
Tell me a little bit about your life-adventure: how did you end up living where you are now? And who lives with you there?
I was born in Japan to a Japanese father and German mother, lived in US, Nepal, Japan and India where I am now with my husband and family. I grew up in the Himalayan mountains. Since the age of 8 I went to an international boarding school in Northern India, in the Himalayan foothills. My parents were missionaries in a neighboring country and there were no English schools where they worked. The school was far from modern city life but apart from frequent power cuts and water shortages, no heating or air conditioning, my life was comfortable - being in the mountains I experienced none of the 45+ degrees (Celsius) heat I experience now in the plains every summer, and our winter holidays were 3 months long so we were gone for the coldest season. Our summer holiday was just one month, July, the rainy season - the beginning of our school year was usually in pouring rain, in which we were often drenched on our way from the dorm to the school, staying wet much of the day.
Most of the time I loved it there - although I'm sure I struggled with the usual peer pressures and school kids' troubles. My two older brothers and I lived in dormitories with people from all over the world. Many were there for similar reasons like mine. Others were there for the international experience, coming to study from faraway places like Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa (I had friends who spoke Afrikaans). I had classmates from Libya, Ethiopia, Russia and Thailand, to name a few. Many were mixed, like me, with parents from different continents. It was a place where I came closest to feeling at home, where I forged my identity as a Christian and a citizen of heaven, the place I first met my husband, where I was encouraged in my love for art, and it was this country that became my home where I've now lived for most of my life.
How lovely to have had such a good school experience that it has helped to form you in such positive ways.
Tell me about something you have learned in the last year or so. Something that you feel has made a change in your life.
I’ve learned to trust God and ask him for small things. For example, I was healed of a skin blemish that troubled me for 8 years - it went away miraculously within a week after I decided to pray over it just a few months ago.
God really does care and hears prayer. I learned that I can bring every little thing before him and trust that he will take care of it.
Aiko’s largest artwork, a 4 x 6ft papercut piece that took her six years to complete!
What is your main creative practice and what led you there? How did you get started on your art journey?
My main creative practice these days is working on art projects - art journaling, collage, mixed media, and papercutting - and I share them on Youtube.
I’ve been making papercut art for over 20 years now, which I learned when I was a college student. I had opportunities to exhibit in the national museum and I even won a prize in a nationwide competition - to my surprise, as I was just a novice at the craft and professional artists were also submitting their work for the prize.
I moved to India to get married and thought I would never do art again. After 5 children were born and homeschooling became a normal routine in our family (and the youngest grew old enough to read to herself), I felt the urge to create and began papercutting again. I started with a 100 day project in 2016. I worked before dawn every day - a habit I still enjoy - and have been creating daily ever since.
Over the years my art began piling up in a drawer. Every once in a while I gave my art away as gifts, but other than that I had no purpose for them apart from my own enjoyment. I began to pray about what to do with my art so it would bless more people. I hadn’t started social media then and the thought was so scary, I had created an Instagram account which I was afraid to post anything on for over a year.
Then several years ago I was mentoring a new believer in my church who loved learning about the Bible, who also enjoyed my art. She was getting married and moving to another place and asked me if I would continue sharing Bible teachings with her through an online platform. She had shown me how to use Instagram, so by the time she left I had become less scared of sharing online.
I realized that if she felt encouraged by my words, there may be others who will find some benefit, so I started a youtube channel - Papercut Prayers. The idea was that I will share encouraging spiritual insights while I make art. I was creating art daily anyway so I thought I’d just record the process and talk in a voiceover (to avoid showing my face).
You make lovely videos, and you’re really easy to listen to!
If you could communicate with your younger self, back when you started on your art journey, what advice would you give to yourself?
Just do what you enjoy and learn what you can. I think I pressured myself too much to make it a career and felt discouraged that it never happened. I’ve learned it’s ok to not make money from it, to not be a business. That doesn’t validate or invalidate the art.
I used to think if I’m not selling anything my art has no value but I realized it’s not necessarily that way. Making art actually made me a better person - having a creative outlet gave me something to look forward to every day. It gave me so much joy that spilled over to other areas of life. After having my own creative time with God in the mornings I felt that I could take on any other challenge in the day and give myself fully to whatever came along because my cup was full.
Art can be useful for so many things, including personal enjoyment, therapy, for learning, for helping me internalize Scripture, and connect with God. It has helped me grow in my faith and looking back at art I made while listening to or meditating on Bible truths helps me recall what I learned. I also use art as a tool to help me memorize bible passages.
That’s really valuable!
Now, share something you’ve created that made you happy:
The cover of a gratitude journal made with collage and mixed media.
What has been the biggest eye-opener or game-changer for you when it comes to art theory (eg. colour, shape, composition etc.)? What have you learnt about it that really affects how you create art?
Learning about color stories or color schemes has been a big eye opener. I never had a cohesive color palette and wondered why my pieces lacked a unifying feeling until I heard about color theory. I still struggle with wanting to use every color but I’m getting better at being more selective with colors I use in one piece or project.
If you had to be a colour, which one would you like to be, and why? Is this the same as your favourite colour, or is it a different one?
If I had to be a color, I’d be yellow - it’s one of my favorite colors in art (though I don’t wear yellow clothing) - I love it because it makes me happy and it’s bright, like light, and I want to be God’s light in the darkness.
My favorite colors are the colors of the sunset, a particular glowing red that I saw in chemistry class when we were experimenting with heating different elements: I don’t know the name of that color but it’s like a fluorescent red or coral color.
If you could only use one drawing or painting medium for the rest of your life, what would you choose, and why?
I’d love to master painting. Acrylics would be my choice as it’s versatile, easily available where I live and you can use water to clean up. I love papercutting also because you don’t have to clean tools etc. and you can stop and start anytime without worrying about paint drying and so on. In recent days I feel a strain on my hand muscles so I’ve been doing less papercutting. Painting is less strain for my hands so I want to get better at it.
I believe that every drawing has worth, so would you mind sharing something you’ve created that you were not happy with?
A sketchbook page: a hidden face, in coloured pencils.
Who or what is your “muse”? What inspires you most?
I am inspired by Bible images - the Holy Spirit inspires me and I want to create art that stirs up people’s heart to see the goodness and beauty of God.
Which work of art that already exists do you wish you had created?
I love the work of a Japanese artist named Seiji Fujishiro, who makes very colorful and fantastical scenes out of cut paper. He illustrated the life of Jesus and many Bible scenes, and my favorite is the “Garden of Eden” - so beautiful, so charming and very much a style I’d love to emulate.
Who is one of your art heroes, and what is one thing you've learnt from them?
I love the Japanese artist Hokusai who designed the famous Great Wave (the huge wave with mount Fuji). He was a master at composition which is something I’ve tried to learn from him.
Name one book that has been most inspiring or useful to you in your creative life. In what way has it inspired or helped you?
Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L'Engle. This book was so beautifully written and expresses a Christian perspective on art making, how it is necessary in the world and something ordained of God, which I found so encouraging.
If you could only pass one picture-book on to your children, which one would you choose to give? What do you think is so great about that book?
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein - I read the book as a kid and loved it so much, when I saw it in the bookstore after becoming a mother I had to get it for my children. The story is simple but profound, and deeply spiritual. I remember being moved by it even as a child. I love how the tree gave and gave until the end - much like God who gave and gave and continues to give life to those who turn to him.
What's one of your favourite animated movies, and which character is most like you?
I love Totoro, a Japanese animated movie. I may be like the little sister, as I was the youngest and always looking for adventure.
(A wee note: The above images of The Giving Tree and My Neighbour Totoro are links that will take you to Bookshop.org, because who wouldn’t want to buy The Art of My Neighbour Totoro?)
What do you really dislike drawing or struggle most to draw?
I am not much of an animal person and find it hard to relate to them though I want to be able to draw everything. I find horses especially challenging, especially when I want them to look majestic and dignified.
That’s hard to believe! I’ve seen some of your incredible papercut animals.
If we were to look through your sketchbooks or artwork, what subjects/objects would we see the most often? Is this your favourite thing to draw?
In my sketchbooks I draw a lot of faces and people, mostly my kids doing different things and people in my camera roll for practice. I try to draw a variety of things to improve my skills. My favorite and most relaxing thing to draw would be swirly lines and stylized floral patterns but that comes naturally so I don’t need to practice that.
Share something you’ve created that marked a turning-point in your work or where you learned something new:
The first papercut piece from the first 100 day project in 2016.
Are you a naturally organised person, or the opposite? Either way, in what ways do you find organisation to be important or helpful in your life?
I’m not naturally organized. It’s a bit of a struggle but with kids and homeschooling, I’ve had to make organized systems for our books and materials to find what we need when we need it. More than once I’ve had to order an extra copy of a book I didn’t find when I needed it, only to find it later in a completely unexpected location in an obscure corner of our home.
What's the most helpful technique that you use to keep yourself motivated in any area of your life?
I can’t think of a specific technique I use to stay motivated. I have always been self motivated and constantly have ideas churning in my mind which makes me want to get up in the morning and work on it. One thing I’ve found helpful is to have supplies in reach and visible on, or around, my desk. I always keep glass jars and a full bottle of water ready so if I suddenly want to use paint I don’t have to stand up to fill a jar with water, I’m always ready to go.
Do you like having deadlines or people holding you accountable, or do you rebel against deadlines and other people's expectations?
I’m rarely in a situation like that as I am not doing art as a business and it’s entirely my own personal choice. But the few times I’ve had other people ask me to make something, I’ve enjoyed the accountability.
What do you do on an average Friday night?
Every night is about the same for us. We usually go to bed early after family prayer and a bit of bedtime reading.
If there was a sitcom made of your life, what would be the main source of comedy for it?
My kids, when they were smaller.
Are you more introverted or extroverted? Introverted
Are you more messy or tidy? Messy
Are you a morning person or night owl? Morning person
What time do you usually wake up and go to bed? I usually wake up at 4am and go to bed by 9:30pm.
Share a really messy area of your workspace:
A messy corner of Aiko’s work-table.
Are you on any social media platforms? If so, do you enjoy creating content for them?
I enjoy sharing on Youtube, most of all. I started on Instagram and have been sharing regularly in 2017. Instagram is more of a record for me to share all my projects. I kept it private and don’t post as much as I used to. I joined facebook recently to take part in an online retreat for Christian artists, so some people have started following me there. I never do anything on facebook but apparently what I share on Instagram automatically gets posted there.
Which one would you keep if you could only have one?
Youtube - I love making videos, it’s the most satisfying, and the feedback has been great. It’s the only one that’s growing as much as it has, and to my surprise people are enjoying the content I’ve shared.
How can others see more of your art or keep up to date with your work?
Instagram: @papercut_prayers
Youtube: @papercut-prayers
Substack: @papercutprayers
Thank you for agreeing to do this interview with me and for answering my (sometimes silly) questions! It was lovely getting to know you a bit better and seeing more of your beautiful artwork.
May your creations continue to glorify our Creator, and may He use your work to work in many hearts.
