Anime

Japanese Anime is a huge industry with followers all around the world. As part of my exhibition of Japanese Icons, Old and New, this is the subset of Icons - New. The 1970s saw a surge of growth in the popularity of manga, Japanese comic books and graphic novels, many of which were later animated (Anime). Many anime figures have large emotive eyes. One artist's style allowed for the entire range of human emotions to be depicted solely through the eyes. Hair in anime is often unnatural looking and exaggerated. "Hair action" is used to emphasize the action and emotions of characters. Anime and manga artists often use iconic facial expression illustrations to denote particular moods and thoughts which are usually different from those used in Western animation. For example, a male character may develop a nosebleed when aroused. Japanese anime accounted for 60% of the world's animated cartoon television shows, as of 2016. Anime and Manga are synonymous with modern Japan.
Work is all made from layers of paper including Japanese Washi paper cut in shapes to reveal the design.

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Robyn Cottew is a qualified Interior Designer, whose career has taken many turns. After working as a commercial Interior Designer for 10 years in Melbourne and London, she moved into sales and marketing of commercial furniture.
Robyn spent six and a half years living in Japan in Yamagata Ken, and in Tokyo. She travelled extensively through Japan during that time and is fascinated by Japanese culture and crafts.
Robyn set up a web shop selling unique and high quality Japanese designed goods which otherwise don’t get global exposure.
In Tokyo she met Yamamoto Hiromi san, who taught her Japanese Paper Cutting Art. Yamamoto San’s style is a unique version of kirigame (traditional paper cutting), and Robyn became an assistant teacher under her guidance.
Yamamoto San taught Robyn about Japanese culture through the designs used in her lessons.
Robyn has been practicing Japanese Paper Cutting art for twelve years. She uses Japanese washi paper and chiyogami (patterned paper), coloured paper, fabric, sequins and diamantes.
Robyn has taken workshops at Malvern Artist’s Society, Fuji Tei Restaurant, Wesley College, Kami Japanese Paper shop in Fitzroy, Guild of Objects, Moonee Valley Racecourse Chinese New Year festival, Box Hill Community Centre . Her work has been exhibited at the Japanese Consulate in Melbourne, the Japanese Festival in Box Hill, in Fuji Tei Restaurant St Kilda and Glen Eira Town Hall Gallery.
Many of the works listed here are from her exhbition "Icons of Japan". A journey through the traditions, culture and icons of Japan, seen through this unique Japanese cutting art using traditional Japanese papers.
Japanese cultural identity explored through the themes of Old and New: Traditions; Architecture and Gardens; Festivals; and Icons.
My works capture the popular icons of Japan, but also the lesser known.