Creativity & Paper Cuts
A C-Words Creative Conversation with AJ Smith, Paper Artist and Director
March 2021
A while ago artist and director Mandy Smith gave a highly inspiring creative talk to our team. While Mandy’s magic stems from one of mankind’s oldest materials — paper, her expertise extends into film, animation, interactive installations and advertising.
Skipping in the footsteps of her Smith forefathers, Mandy traded her anvil and hammer for a scalpel and a cutting mat, forging a whole new era of culture-colliding creations by cutting, snipping, folding and gluing. And so a Papersmith was born.
Her style of smithery pushes the material to the limit, places conformity in the recycling tray and meticulously manifests the memorable for both commercial and artistic projects of any kind.
In March I caught up with Mandy to discuss her fascination with the guillotine, sending artworks into the stratosphere and finding inspiration in the work of H.R. Giger.
Please give a short introduction about yourself.
Hello! I’m AJ Smith and I’m a paper artist and director. At the moment I’m also an agency Creative Director.
Tell us about the first time you realised you were creative.
Before school, my Nana and I used to go for walks around the neighbourhood collecting things for my “cutting bag” which I would play and create with — I always liked to make something out of nothing so it started pretty young!
A ‘Papersmith’ sounds like a fascinating profession. How did you become one?
Whilst I was working in advertising and shortly after I’d just moved my life here, the recession of 2008/09 hit and there wasn’t exactly many briefs floating in to the agency I was working at…so to fill my time at my desk I started building a model inspired by Amsterdam. I used to make things with paper when I was little but hadn’t done so for 20 years. Once I picked it back up again however it was hard to stop and I remembered a love that I hadn’t connected with for years.
What was the path that led you to what you’re doing now creatively?
Currently I’m a Creative Director at an agency. This actually came about as I rented a desk with them to work on my own art projects and then they had a couple of briefs come in that were a good fit for me so it started from there! In my evenings and spare time I’m also investing time to work out what my next personal project will be. I’m enjoying the balance of commercial work mixed with artwork.
What was your very first piece of work as Papersmith and do you still have it?
Yes! I haven’t kept many things but the first two houses I’ve built are still on my desk. This is the first thing I made:
Describe how you work professionally. Do you prefer to work alone or in collaboration?
Both! I really love the initial ideation phase by myself but I love being in production and being able to collaborate with other people. With larger budgets you’re obviously able to scale up much more and work with more people which is exciting. Team spirit adds so much to projects and I love the bonds you make with people during production, it’s like you go through something together!
One of your most well-known projects, ‘Paper Cuts’ is a life-size interactive paper sculpture of a guillotine. Tell us a bit about the touring exhibition.
The project was initially launched in the Waag Amsterdam and the society there were really interested in the project and dug up old illustrations showing that there used to be a guillotine in front of that space. It was always part of the project that we found a magnificent place or place of wonder to put it in to ground the project. And that first location was beautiful and historical.
From there we got selected to put it in Somerset House in London for an art fair. Following on from there we were selected for the launch of the City Museum in Aarau Switzerland for they had a revolution triggered by the French Revolution and the guillotine too came there to “free the repressed” . The Museum loaned the blade from the French Revolution from France and we couldn’t refuse.
We’ve turned down two other cities for the sculpture as it’s precious to us and we don’t want to put it up in a place which doesn’t feel right. For every location we crafted a design to match the exhibition space and the location. With the last space having the actual blade I wanted to create a piece of artwork that really flipped the story on its head.
The guillotine was completely white and covered in thorns which grew into flowers, butterflies and birds to show how over time something that was once repressive or terrifying can become something beautiful.
Where do you find inspiration?
I tend to find inspiration for my own work when I’m not looking for it! For example, when I’m on a client brief researching a different problem, I find that I tend to get inspiration for new ideas then. Whereas if i’m trying to just come up with an idea out of nowhere it doesn’t seem to come so easily!
Who are your creative heroes? Have they influenced your work in any way?
I don’t really have creative heroes per se, but i’ve realised when I’m having a bout of not feeling inspired I will always put “Alien” (the movie) on! For me it has such a wonderful balance of crafted imaginative artwork, from H.R. Giger, mixed with such fresh storytelling that it never fails to inspire me. In fact the other year I was so inspired I wanted to take my favourite characters and see how I could reimagine them in the most unlikely of settings at Christmas time. It was a project that definitely made me entertained, juxtaposing the two worlds!
As a prolific artist, how do you maintain your own creativity to ensure the strongest ideas and highest standard of output?
In honesty sometimes being so critical of yourself and your own ideas can lead to not making anything at all! Last year that was partly my problem but I know how much effort and personal energy it takes to make something realised so when I pour my heart and soul into something I want to make sure it is worth it. However, I feel really excited about what i’m embarking on now, and generally when I get that feeling I know it’s a good thing so I tend to trust my gut!
Do you ever suffer from bouts of ‘creative block’, where you find it difficult to get your head into a free-flowing creative space? If so, what methods, processes, exercises or activities do you use to unblock yourself?
Completely. When I don’t quite feel aligned with a bigger goal or purpose I can feel I’m just trying to create for creative sake which can lead to a lot of self doubt and inability to make anything. It’s only when I realise this is happening that I give myself a mental break. Normally that’s when I come up with a goal — after I’d taken all the pressure off. I actually find when I am working to solve a client creative brief that’s when I have ideas appear for personal projects.
What’s the most ambitious paper-based project you’ve attempted?
“Hmmm I mean the guillotine is up there with it being a 4m high sculpture. A 3m high spinning paper dress was one of the most fun creative solutions I’ve dreamed up though.
Material wise making things out of sandpaper was the hardest thing I’ve done due to the fact that, even though it has paper in it’s name, it did not want to work like paper — in fact it hardly wanted to stick at all! It took ages in comparison. I have a part of my website dedicated to my experiments.
How important is experimentation in your creative work? What has been the biggest breakthrough in your creative work that came through experimentation?
When I’m struggling for inspiration I always start with experimenting and try different ways to spark creativity. Experimentation never feels like wasted work for I always learn something and it’s a great way to open up new paths in the mind. Many times I’ve reflected back on a finished project and realised that I wouldn’t have gotten to that point if I hadn’t done something else that might not have seemed relevant at the time. This is what happened with my ‘No More Cutting’ project (which was an art initiative set up to raise awareness about Female Genital Mutilation) that ended up being a huge turning point for me creatively.
In your opinion can anyone be trained to become creative or is it simply something you are born with?
You can be creative in so many ways. I have strengths and weaknesses in terms of output. Some things I know I can keep building on and training myself to improve in and other things I know I won’t ever master for they’ve never been a strength. So I think it’s a bit of both.
Your work successfully bridges commercial and artistic commissions. Besides budgets what are the biggest differences between working for commercial or artistic clients? How do you maintain your creative signature when working in either world?
With the bigger budget jobs, when we could travel, I was able to go to different countries, see a new way of working and meet new people which I loved. I’m not precious, so I know when someone is paying for your work and your time you have to respect that and I never get too frustrated with client feedback as that’s part of the journey of solving a puzzle together. I do sometimes feel that the bigger the budget the more respect clients have for your time, the smaller the budget the less respect even if you have more artistic freedom, so it’s good to strike a balance between the two! I tend to use the commercial jobs to help support the artistic ones and more importantly things I want to make for myself.
One of your artworks even made it into the stratosphere. What happened?
“Haha I read your question like “What happened” as in when someone asks you about a mistake! It does sound like a bit of a mistake but it was commissioned. I made a sculpture for W+K and Heineken to raise money for Reporters Without Borders. Each poster that would be auctioned off, came with an interesting story. Mine was the one that took one giant leap for a poster but it was a very interesting commission for I was super excited to see how it’d turn out and if anything would make it that high up. Would clouds interfere with it? Would moisture and altitude cause it to fall apart? Apparently none of these things damaged my paper and glue but what did cause it damage was it’s massive crash landing, all captured perfectly on film.”
You’ve crafted a unique signature in your work without becoming formulaic. How do you keep your work fresh?
Probably again due to experimenting. I love ideas, so that for me is a key part of what I like to do. I’m not one to discover one approach and then be happy to keep repeating myself. I love finding the next challenge, but in a way I wonder if my need to keep concepting new ideas never leads to inner peace ;)
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the majority of us to re-address the way we work with negative and positive consequences. One of the surprisingly positive results, suggested in WeTransfer’s Ideas Report 2020, is that many of us have actually been more creative during the pandemic. As a creative how have you been coping during the pandemic and what important lessons have you learnt that you will take forward in the future?
For me last year I chose a path of a more commercial existence as I felt grateful for the work and in honesty I felt like one of the lucky ones. This year though I know I have to carve out more time for my own artwork and I’m looking forward to striking that balance. For me I never do the most creative work when I force it or when I’m stressed so I’m grateful for the mental freedom last year bought me.
What advice can you give to any creative wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Continue to be grateful for any opportunity you’re given, work hard and always be empathetic. Then I suppose one final point is to always try to be kind to yourself and not compare yourself too much to other people. This I know can be hard with social media, for everyone just presents their final polished work. You just have to see it as that and keep believing in what you want to do.
And finally: What’s next for you creatively?
I’m working on a couple of new installation ideas! After being restricted to the home so much over the last year due to covid rules, I can’t wait to make immersive artwork again and transport people to other environments outside their daily lives. I want to create experiences that are surreal, serene and larger than life in terms of scale. I’m hoping as everything opens up again people and governing bodies will really appreciate how much positive impact art can have on their lives to invest in it more! It was obviously hard to think about installations during covid times with everything closed.
About the author:
Graham Sturt is Creative Director / Partner at strategic design and branding agency, D8.
Originally from England, he lived and worked in London for more than a decade before relocating to Amsterdam to follow his passion for Dutch design.
