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Cardboard Art

The Art of Warren King

Warren King is an American artist currently based in New York. His primary media is cardboard, which should be of immense interest to our followers and collectors of paper art.

Mister King’s projects have ranged from masks and animal figures, to figural work capturing the people of China. That work ranges from imperial portraiture to life-size studies of residents of his ancestral village in China.

His style moves between whimsy and deep honor for the subjects he captures in his sculptures, and boxplayers may feel challenged to attempt the style of papercraft this artist.

Our reporters asked the organizers of Cardboard*Con if Warren might be invited as a guest to the 2021 event. Unfortunately, our questions have gone unanswered as the organizing staff of the convention have been trapped inside a Wilsonmatic Cardpacker 5000 since April.

In an April 2020 interview with Forbes magazine Warren explained that he chose cardboard as his medium as a matter of convenience. In a story that should sound familiar to all boxplayers, Warren said:

“I have two kids, and when they were younger I would make toys and costumes for them using whatever materials were available and free.  Everyone has old boxes in their closets, so I used one to make my first piece, a Darth Vader helmet for my son. Then for Halloween, I made a few more masks, and then it quickly became a regular activity in our house.”

Warren King, “Q&A With Warren King Who Turns Cardboard Into Art”, Forbes April 2020, interview with Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle

Understanding the Material

Like Cardboard*Conners, Warren explains that an understanding of the material is necessary before you can do deep dives into the art of boxplay at his level.

“My tools are the most basic kinds: scissors, a few different kinds of knives and glue. Maybe it’s a reaction to my previous career in high technology, but I get immense satisfaction from working solely with my hands. There are rare occasions when I’ll agree to make several identical items, like masks for some sort of event, perhaps. But other than that, every piece is completely handmade and unique. Occasionally, I teach workshops on sculpting with cardboard..”

Warren King, “Q&A With Warren King Who Turns Cardboard Into Art”, Forbes April 2020, interview with Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle

Read the entire interview on Forbes.

Follow Mr. King on Instagram.

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