Japanese Artist Transforms Old Newspapers Into Expressive Creatures

Spirited monkeys, inquisitive rabbits, placid walruses, and other species come to life in Chie Hitotsuyama’s studio. Working with glue and twisted rolls of newspaper, the Tokyo-based artist crafts three-dimensional portraits of animals that are full of personality.

More info: Chie Hitotsuyama (h/t: creators)

“I’m breathing new life into old newspapers that no longer serve their role as an information medium,” she says.

Hitotsuyama has been working on this zoological series since 2011. The idea for the first sculpture, of a rhinoceros, came to her after seeing a rhino getting attacked by poachers during a trip through Africa in 2007. After that, it took four years for her to develop her signature technique. In the artist’s words, she’s “taken it slow.”