Sinag Shines with Scissors and Paper

Starting at age seven, Sinag de Leon has been making paper cut-outs when she first discovered how it was done from a Childcraft volume.

Inspired by and fascinated with the designs of fragile paper cuts from China and Bulacan pastillas wrappers, she continues to relive, through her unique version of paper cuts, the rich variety of art that marked her childhood and growing up years. She has experimented with paper of different colors, textures, thicknesses and sizes, coming up with projects using her own designs for pencil holders, bookmarks, among other gift ideas. In 1995, she started making cards with “snowflake” paper cut designs, using art paper and card board and calling them Sinag Cards.

Just as there are no two snowflakes alike, Sinag’s paper cuts do not repeat themselves. After sharing her experience in making them with the Baguio community in 2007 and receiving a positive response, she seriously considered turning paper cuts into framed objects.

The process of cutting paper into shapes that she herself cannot predict the outcome of can take from five minutes for small sizes to an entire day for complicated, detailed ones. After she slowly and carefully opens the folded paper to prevent any tearing, she pastes the cut-out onto a background, still a tricky process. All throughout, she is guided by the thought of highlighting the paper’s beauty, for this particular show, paper from the Iloilo Producers’ Association.

Having worked with paper made in Japan and Thailand in past shows, for this current one, Sinag finds Philippine-made paper a joy to behold, handle and transform. She is doubly proud that she found it in a province where she partly traces her roots to.

“Sinalimbay,” Sinag’s second solo exhibit, gets its name from a combination of Tagalog and Ilonggo words whose common meaning has to do with gliding, swooping (like the movement of birds) and meeting the air from different directions.

In photo: Elaborate doesn't quite capture what Sinag did with this piece of paper
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"Sinalimbay" opens on July 16 at 5 p.m. at Kiss the Cook Gourmet with a live performance of Diwa de Leon's Hegalong Project at 65 Maginhawa street, UP Village, Quezon City. The exhibit runs for a month. Contact Kiss the Cook Gourmet for details at tel. 434-3700 or Sinag at +632-9208-431994