haruka misawa forms paper flowers from 'pencil' shavings

japanese designer haruka misawa reproduces the delicate forms of a flower through the simple act of sharpening a pencil. curled up in a ring-like crown, the fragile paper objects assume the shape of tiny floral petals, with colorful details radiating from within the cylindrical form. 

all photos by amana group

misawa first created a series of custom, pencil-like forms using layers of tightly-rolled tinted paper. on printed biotope ga-fs with a color gradation, misawa applied paste to the surface of each sheet and wrapped it around a core, forming a tube-like shape. finally, the designer — using an ordinary stationary tool — carefully sharpened the paper rods to create thin, spiraling sheets, whose delicate materiality resembles floral blooms. while these ‘pencil’ shavings measure between 15-40 millimeters in diameter, a close look reveals a sense of the textural properties of the individual paper sheets. ‘depending on how you sharpen it, the shavings may be thick and heavy, or so thin as to be almost transparent,’ the designer describes. ‘you can’t make the same flower twice. once you’ve created one, you’re bound to try again.’