Just a Little at a Time is a self-initiated project by Cheryl Teo to take on the routine task of making a paper sculpture the size of a matchbox each day. The project, started off as the 100 Days Project in 2017, is based on a prescribed set of self-imposed rules and each miniature would take about five to six hours to complete. According to Cheryl, working in such small scale enables her to see things with fresh eyes, and with each new creation, she is discovering a better understanding of the nature of paper. This relentless pursuit of excellence pushes the boundaries of her craft as she challenges herself to experiment with more complex processes and narratives. The journey has led Cheryl to sharpen her skills, including developing personal techniques in paper construction as well as finding her own artistic voice.

Cheryl Teo, 'Just a Little at a Time', 2017-2022.

Jumaadi’s art is imbued with a poetic sensibility. Joli Jolan, a word coined and derived from the Javanese term ijol ijolan, references ideas of making an exchange— to swap, to trade and/or to replace. In Joli Jolan, he affords us a glimpse of his grand private cosmology. At first glance it is whimsical but upon a closer look, it reveals a world of peculiarity. A seemingly autobiographical figure carries enormous objects ranging from a pineapple, fishbone, and human foot to miniature mountains and buildings sprouting foliage. Other recurring motifs include the buffalo, tree of life, rootless tree, and tree-less roots. Informed by a traditional Javanese worldview and that of a postmodern nomad living in a global world straddling his studios in Imogiri (Yogyakarta, Indonesia) and Sydney, Jumaadi weaves together a personal iconography of human and organic motifs, where natural and spiritual worlds converge.

Jumaadi, 'Joli Jolan', 2022.

Li Hongbo's paper sculptures brings a breath of fresh air to traditional Chinese arts and crafts. Hongbo transforms the medium of paper, one of the key inventions in Chinese civilisation, through deconstruction and reassembling. In doing so, he creates a shift away from the familiar and the overlooked, drawing attention to the hidden essence of an object's existence, offering the viewer a platform to reconsider current ideas and rethink the familiar. Hongbo loves playing with ambiguity. Land of Fairy Tales features an imaginary map of the world where continents are constructed from layers of paper meticulously glued together in a honeycomb-like structure by hand. Each structure can be laid flat, twisted or stretched. This beautiful large-scale installation of colourful malleable continents subtly reflects the geopolitics of borders and boundaries as active forces and resources in international and domestic political, social, and economic relations.

Li Hongbo, ‘Land of Fairy Tales’, 2010-2016.

Eccentric City is an imaginary floating city that is constructed of tatebanko or Japanese paper dioramas. This traditional Japanese craft, popular in the late Edo period (1603–1867) and the Meiji period (1868–1912), has continued to fascinate Keiichi Tanaami. He subsequently introduced tatebanko to PHUNK, a Singapore art and design collective, for this collaboration in 2010. The cityscape, populated by PHUNK’s black-and-white carnivalesque theme-park universe on one side and Tanaami’s brilliantly coloured psychedelic dreamscapes on the other, portrays the pulsating energy of urban living. These images are somewhat autobiographical. For PHUNK, amusement parks afford relatable childhood memories, while Tanaami's brand of psychedelia can be traced back to two formative periods in his life: the witnessing of the firebombing of Tokyo during World War II and his four-month stay in hospital while recovering from pleurisy in 1981, marked by nightly hallucinations from the strong medication.

PHUNK & Keiichi Tanaami, 'Eccentric City', 2010/2022.

100ish Meaningless Statements is a collection of around 100 sentences that meditates on, explores, and subverts the uses and functions of paper in our lives, as well as the various meanings ascribed to it. As text, it conveys a whole spectrum of meanings and provocations to the reader—from nonsensical axioms and philosophical questions, to pop cultural references, commentaries on social relations, and instructions for creative responses. The text positions paper as material, yet also imbues it with personality and voice, giving it agency and allowing it to turn its gaze back onto humanity and society. In 100ish Meaningless Statements, paper also becomes a placeholder for the self: full of randomness, emotion and life. It moves us towards a possible future of what “paper” can be, limited only by the imagination.

Nabilah Said, '100ish Meaningless Statements', 2022