monami ohno carves out cardboards to form astonishing intricate sculptures

from iconic movie characters to functioning shoes

japanese artist monami ohno, with the nickname ‘cardboard girl’, shapes intricate sculptures from discarded amazon boxes. inspired by pop culture, animations and films, the art pieces range from creatures, monsters and robots, automatic weapons, giant watches, realistic shoes, and tiny extravagant vehicles to fast-food meals and snacks. the artist starts with roughly sketching her ideas on the cardboard — to get a first glimpse of the dimensions — then she cuts out the material and molds it with glue, while sometimes using water if needed.all images courtesy of monami ohno

all she needs is scissors, a common cutter, ruler, glue, and tape

monami ohno (see more here) was formerly trained in 3D animation at osaka school of arts in japan. as she couldn’t afford the extra costs of the class projects, she come up with the cardboard concept — utilizing amazon boxes that she had collected — as the tool to complete successfully the courses. after years of practice, with around 200 cardboard sculptures at her portfolio, monami ohno’s artwork has gained popularity, with some of her pieces displayed in galleries in japan and abroad. her impressive-detailed artwork series are all constructed by simply using a pair of scissors, a common cutter, ruler, glue, tape, and of course a lot of passion. the ‘cardboard girl’ leaves the natural color and surface texture of the cardboard intact to emphasize the charm of this daily-use material.

‘I tried making something out of the boxes’

as she has mentioned, a sculpture with the size of around 10cm in length, width, and height, takes around 10 days to be accomplished, while an exact artwork six times the size, may need three months. each piece is formed from various parts intricately assembled together, giving the opportunity to the artist to generate multiple forms and patterns. ‘I tried making something out of the boxes,’ she said. ‘found out that cardboard is a surprisingly fun medium to work with, and from there i really started getting into creating with it.’