Marianne Eriksen Scott-Hansen

A pioneer in the art of paper cutting

• Marianne taught herself to make paper sculptures
• She works freehand, without templates, using only scissors
• Her work is a unique take on a long Danish tradition

Marianne Eriksen Scott-Hansen worked as a fashion and jewellery designer for many years both for her own company and as a freelancer. However, she increasingly felt that she needed to do something else, to carve a niche for herself. “I wanted to experiment and find my original source of creativity, my purest form of creative joy.” Although she had worked with luxury materials including gold and fur, she realised she felt most gratification from working with humble materials such as paper, which allowed her to express her creativity freely without having to compromise financially.

Interview

©Marianne Eriksen-Scott Hansen

©Marianne Eriksen-Scott Hansen

How is paper cutting connected to Denmark?

In most parts of Denmark it’s farming culture. For centuries, what was available was paper and colour. That was about it. So in the countryside the way that people would be creative was to work with paper and colour. The most famous example is Hans Christian Andersen.

Why did you decide to work with paper?

All these traditions of working with paper in the countryside, combined with my own wish to make something else, and my desire to work with materials that are closer to nature… these three things are the most important reasons why I chose paper.

What was the first paper creation you made?

The first one I felt had potential was a gift for my cousin, for his 40th birthday. I was broke, so I collected all of my scrap paper, even some tea bags he had bought me from Fortnum & Mason, and I made a present. Every tiny piece of paper that connected him to me, I put into the work.

Do you use any specific techniques?

I don’t like to use techniques I have learnt from others. I want to invent my own techniques. It’s a lot of work, but I am a curious person so I like to find new ways and new ideas to really make myself a pioneer in the paper world, that’s what really drives me.

Marianne Eriksen Scott-Hansen is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2013

Works

Fred Merz ©Michelangelo Foundation

©Tina Agnew

©Royal Copenhagen

Where