Elysha Rei, installation Yohaku no bi (the beauty of empty space), 2024, photo: Louis Lim

In the lead-up to the Lunar New Year of the Snake, Elysha Rei speaks with writer Pamela See about her exhibition of papercuts: Yohaku no bi (the beauty of empty space).

(A message to the reader.)

The exhibition Yohaku no bi (the beauty of empty space) was open to visitors at The Condensery, a contemporary art space an hour and a half drive west of Meanjin (Brisbane). It was a solo presentation by one of Australia’s foremost practitioners of Kiri-e, Elysha Rei.

The direct translation of the term “切り絵” (Kiri-e) is “the principle of cutting paper”. Its origins purportedly date back to the Asuka Period (538-710 CE), during which many Chinese cultural practices were adopted. A form of cutting and folding paper, kirigami, appeared in Buddhist and Shinto temples. During the Kamakura Period (1185 – 1333 CE), mon kiri-e, or the cutting of family crests, emerged. The practice of kiri-e broadened as an art form with an increased availability of paper during the Edo Period (1603 – 1868 CE).

Through her post-digital papercuts, Rei investigates her rich Japanese heritage. Rei’s grandfather, Glen Kirkham, was among the Australian troops occupying Japan following the Second World War. Her “Obaachama” (grandmother) was the typist for the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces. In 1952, the Australian government granted entry to the Japanese wives of servicemen. She immigrated with her husband and eldest daughter in the following year. Akiko Kirkham became the first of the war brides to give birth in Queensland.

Being installed in The Condensery’s bomb shelter from the Second World War, which became a document storeroom for Nestlé, enhanced the experience of this exhibition.

✿ It’s Lunar New Year time. So, I’m wondering if that’s something that you celebrate in Japan [with] your family?

[What] I’ve started doing in the last few years is creating a papercut that is dedicated to a particular horoscope… It’s something that we certainly follow. Not religiously, but I’m more interested in celebrating that—particularly with my grandmother. She had a lot of rabbit ornaments and ephemera… things that we’ve all inherited as well. So, that’s something that’s done in Japan too.

✿ The symbols you put in this work may be read differently, depending on the audience. But, when you create the work is it personal? It’s about your family isn’t it?

That’s right. Looking back, over my practice, I’ve realised that I’ve used fish in my work for quite a number of years. When I first started to use them, I was putting them in contexts where they were out of water.

And, I think that was referencing this sense of feeling completely out of place and not really knowing where I fit in. Then, over that time period, I have been on a very conscious journey of learning more about my family’s history—being really inspired by my grandmother’s story and my mother’s story. Also, through my grandmother, learning a lot more about our ancestors and so forth… And, so when it got to that point, I stood back and realized that, oh okay, the fish has found water.

In terms of the fish itself, the koi carp, looking back on this particular species: I guess it’s inherently Japanese in aesthetic, but [I] also recognis[e] that koi is [still] classified as an invasive species in Queensland.

Within Japanese culture, koi symboli[se] courage, strength, and perseverance because th[ey] swim against the current. They go their own way, essentially. And, I think those are qualities that I’ve certainly seen in my mother and in my grandmother—and that has inspired me as well.

✿ In terms of the craft, was it something that your grandmother practised as well?

No, she didn’t practise papercutting, but we do have some of her pictures up… [in] my mom’s house. She was quite a talented artist in her own right.

✿ I have a feeling this is incorrect, but my research to do with Chinese papercutting suggests that when it came to Japan, it was practised by the upper echelons of society.

Yes, I think that’s right. [One of] the first… forms of papercutting in Japan was used by samurai famil[ies], and they were using them in a way to [put] emblems onto things like kimono[s] and flags – and so forth. And when I discovered that, I realised that that was an inherently important ancestral connection for me as well because my grandmother always spoke about one of our ancestors being a samurai. So, once I found that out, I realised that the medium became a really strong connection to my family’s heritage… even though I didn’t realise it when I first started it.

✿ The paper that you use: is it different from the kind of paper that’s [papercut] in Japan?

Yes. That’s right. So, this is a synthetic polymer paper. Sometimes, it’s called a Yupo paper. And, the qualities of this paper are really wonderful for a Queensland climate because it is water-resistant and humidity resistant. It’s also tearproof as well. So, it’s got the same weight as paper [and] cuts like paper.

✿I’m interested in the materiality of your work because you go from digital to… the material.

Yeah. So, my process is that I create the work from a digital image, whether that’s a photograph that I’ve taken and manipulated or a digitally native drawing or design, and then I can scale that up to the size that I need and print it out, and then overlay that onto the paper that I’m cutting into.

So, I’m essentially cutting through two sheets of paper, with the one underneath being the work that’s presented. Using the technique, giv[es] [a] material… connect[ion] to [my] culture.

But, the other thing that I have really placed a value on [is] this material[‘s] connection to history and archival records… I’ve really started to use archival records as a big part of my process.

So, to then create works out of the same substrate that this history is recorded on… [This] makes it even more poignant because it’s representing maybe silent narratives that aren’t represented in archival collections.

✿ Correct me if I’m wrong: these artworks were shown in Melbourne in 2022.

That’s right.

✿ I wondered about your presenting them at The Condensery: how this new site will influence its reading. I think it’s fascinating that it’s an old bomb shelter and… then later a place where documents were kept.

Yes. That’s right.

When I was looking last year [for] spaces to exhibit the series, coming across the bomb shelter was perfect… It was almost like this physical and metaphysical opportunity to present the installation work in a space that was a bomb shelter built during World War Two in fear of a Japanese attack.

And, then, the work itself is speaking about the dynamic between Australia and Japan relations and my family’s history connected to that. It seems like a really poignant connection to make with this space.

✿ In addition to this show, where can readers experience your work in 2025?

I do have a show coming up at Umbrella Studios next year. This is a new body of work for me that I’m creating. And, it is particularly about the history of early Japanese migration in Queensland. So, it predates my family’s history. You’re talking more about histories of… pearl divers and sugarcane farmers – and so forth. That will be from the 13th of June until the 27th of July [at] Umbrella Studio, Contemporary Arts in Townsville.

余白の美: Yohaku no bi (the beauty of empty space) by Elysha Rei at The Condensery in Toogoolawah closed 2 February 2025. However, a selection of the artworks will be reshown at Onespace Gallery in South Brisbane in March 2025.

Visit www.elysharei.com

Further reading

Embassy of Japan, Washington DC. (2016, October 18). Teaching Tuesday: Monkiri Asobi.

Department of Territories, Central Office. (1967). Development of Australian Immigration. Item Number:  NAA: A452. 1964/2912

Nikkei Australia. (2024, November 28). Nikkei Australia’s Elysha Rei’s new exhibition Yohaku no bi.

Rei, E. (2021, September 26). In Conversation with Japanese Australian artist Elysha Rei. Discover Nikkei.

Yupo Corporation. (n.d). The History of Synthetic Paper.

About Elysha Rey

I’m Elysha Rei, I’m a Japanese Australian artist based in Meanjin, Brisbane, Australia, predominantly making hand-cut works out of paper. I have work in an upcoming exhibition at Onespace in Brisbane. Visit onespace.com.au/exhibition/tensile-connections.

Pamela See ✿ A renaissance woman

Pamela See is indeed a “renaissance woman”. Her craft is psaligraphy (paper-cutting), which may seem a lower-order technique involving relatively little skill and a minimal range of creative […]

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fish | G28 | Pamela See | paper | papercutting | Queensland