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November 21 | Yang Pulongbarit-Cuevo | Heirlooms, Heritage, & the Art of Papercutting

$115.00 $135.00

Saturday, November 21
1:00 - 5:00 PM

Papercutting is rooted in craftsmanship and story telling. From the Han Dynasty China to kitchen-table art made for weddings and holidays to large-scale papercut installations, it has remained a universal, relevant, and innovative artform for thousands of years.

Artist Yang Pulongbarit Cuevo uses this artform to explore culture, anatomy, and human sentiments. Her work explores light and shadow (and how they are inherently intertwined) as formal and conceptual elements.

Join Yang for a hands-on experience tracing the lineage of papercut art from centuries-old folk traditions to the layered, narrative work she and others create today. With just a precision blade and sheets of paper, Yang will guide us through using negative space to create an image, building depth through layering, and translating a memory into silhouette.

Guest Artist Workshop is a curated series that invites contemporary artists to share their practice. Workshop includes an artist talk and a hands-on project. Topics range from technical printmaking skills to the bigger ideas printmaking can carry, reflecting our interest in the medium as craft, tool, and mode of expression.

Saturday, November 21
1:00 - 5:00 PM

Papercutting is rooted in craftsmanship and story telling. From the Han Dynasty China to kitchen-table art made for weddings and holidays to large-scale papercut installations, it has remained a universal, relevant, and innovative artform for thousands of years.

Artist Yang Pulongbarit Cuevo uses this artform to explore culture, anatomy, and human sentiments. Her work explores light and shadow (and how they are inherently intertwined) as formal and conceptual elements.

Join Yang for a hands-on experience tracing the lineage of papercut art from centuries-old folk traditions to the layered, narrative work she and others create today. With just a precision blade and sheets of paper, Yang will guide us through using negative space to create an image, building depth through layering, and translating a memory into silhouette.

Guest Artist Workshop is a curated series that invites contemporary artists to share their practice. Workshop includes an artist talk and a hands-on project. Topics range from technical printmaking skills to the bigger ideas printmaking can carry, reflecting our interest in the medium as craft, tool, and mode of expression.

Bio

Yang Pulongbarit Cuevo is a papercut artist and nonprofit professional based in Chicago who began as a political cartoonist in the Philippines. Her work often draws inspiration from nature, anatomy, music, and folklore.

As an immigrant born and raised in an archipelago with rich cultural heritage contrasted by a history of political unrest, Cuevo also creates pieces informed by societal observations and emotional abstraction.

Her work has been shown in exhibitions in California, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, and Metro Manila, as well as publications including The Chicago Reader. The custom maps she offers at Paperhugger Studio also became an Etsy Design Awards Finalist in 2023.

In addition to her art practice, Cuevo worked as Managing Director for a Chicago nonprofit arts organization focused on printmaking until 2025 and currently co-curates local exhibitions. She serves as President of the Board for the Guild of American Papercutters. On weekends, she hosts a weekly show for 107.1FM, an independent radio station in North Center Chicago.

Photos Credits:

Courtesy of the artist