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A collection of colourful origami sculptures of fruit and flowers arranged on a white surface. The group includes a watermelon slice, a lemon, strawberries, and several roses in shades of pink, purple and orange.

Set Design: Lydia Kasumi Shirreff is queen of paper sculpture

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Date
24 October 2013

I spent a solid hour on Sunday afternoon trying to fashion a crane out of a piece of origami paper using nothing but my own fair hands and a YouTube tutorial. It was very difficult, and ultimately I failed, but at least with my newfound experience I can now assure you that the masterpieces Lydia Kasumi manages to conjure out of what must amount to reams of coloured paper is nothing short of miraculous.

From what looks to be every fruit under the sun, to almost illusionary giant iridescent letters, the illustrator and set designer has a mastery over her medium that demands an impressed “ooooooh!” in response. Where some paper sculpture falls prey to the snappy jaws of overly-cutesy-straight-out-of-a-lifestyle-magazine niceness, Lydia skirts that dangerous territory and instead falls headfirst into graphic art inspired coolness, where the line and the angle are king and shiny paper is a thing to be embraced.

A 3D paper sculpture featuring a series of repeating, geometric folds in pastel pink, yellow, and mint green. The structure creates a rhythmic pattern of peaks and valleys against a plain white background.
Above

Lydia Kasumi Shirreff: New Romantic

A 3D paper sculpture made of folded geometric shapes in pastel pink, yellow, purple and mint green. The interlocking peaks and valleys create a rhythmic, undulating surface across the frame.
Above

Lydia Kasumi Shirreff: New Romantic

A geometric sculpture in the shape of a double pyramid, floating against a plain white background. It is decorated with a bold, symmetrical pattern of blue, red, and black shards on a white base.
Above

Lydia Kasumi Shirreff: R.PATTZ

A 3D render of a purple juice bottle with a label that reads “feel good”. The bottle is surrounded by colourful paper cut-outs of fruit slices, berries and confetti, with the words “feel good” spelled out in large blue letters.
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Lydia Kasumi Shirreff: FEEL GOOD

A 3D paper sculpture of a pineapple against a plain white background. The body is made of geometric, diamond-shaped folds in white, yellow, green and purple, topped with sharp green paper leaves.
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Lydia Kasumi Shirreff: Apple Pine

A collection of geometric paper sculptures in various shapes and sizes against a white background. The pieces feature a range of colours and patterns, including a large purple gradient crystal and a marbled cylinder.
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Lydia Kasumi Shirreff: Amethyst

A bottle of Ecover washing-up liquid is centred against a backdrop of paper-cut leaves and daisies. The label reads “ECOVER” and “CAMOMILE & MARIGOLD WASHING-UP LIQUID”.
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Lydia Kasumi Shirreff: ECOVER

A 3D render of a large capital letter “V” against a plain white background. The surface is a faceted, holographic material that reflects a spectrum of iridescent colours.
Above

Lydia Kasumi Shirreff: V for Biscuit

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About the Author

Maisie Skidmore

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Maisie joined It’s Nice That fresh out of university in the summer of 2013 as an intern before joining full time as an Assistant Editor. Maisie left It’s Nice That in July 2015.

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