3D Kirie Bottle Art, An Unprecedented Original Creation by Kamiya Hasse

With an artistic twist, artist Kamiya Hasse (@kirie_origami) combines paper cutting, origami and bottle art to create an original artistic creation. The result is 3D Kirie Bottle Art that beautifully decorates your home. 

We first came across this Tweet by Kamiya Hasse where she’d transformed a strawberry Pocky box into a goldfish. An impressive feat, especially since the resulting goldfish is in 3D. The Tweet was hashtagged  “#これがこうなってこうじゃ” which roughly translates to “do this to get this and you get this”. 

Further exploration of Kamiya Hasse’s Twitter account led us to discover that there is more to her talent than meets the eye. 

• An Artist with an Impressive Portfolio
• Learning the Basics, What is Kirie and Origami? 
• 3D Kirie with Kirie X Origami
• A New Original Creation “Kirie Bottle Art”
• Bonus : Kirigami with Sweets Boxes

An Artist with an Impressive Portfolio

Kamiya Hasse 紙屋初瀬 (@kirie_origami) is an artist who uses Japanese washi paper to make collages (貼り絵), paper cut-out (切り絵) collages, and her original creation, kirie bottle art (切り絵ボトルアート). 

According to her profile, she graduated from the Kyoto City University of Arts, majoring in Japanese painting and ink painting. In case you didn’t know, the Kyoto City University of Arts is the oldest university of arts in Japan that was established in 1880. Since the start of her career, she has made many original designs of greeting cards, calendars, letter papers, etc. 

Here is an example of one of her beautiful designs that was released as a product by Nihon Hallmark. 

©2017 カミヤ・ハセ © NIHON HALLMARK

She has also won awards in competitions; the Newcomer Award in 2016 Japan Washi Painting Exhibition and Silver in 2018 Japan National Calendar Exhibition. In 2014, she started making kirie bottle art. 

※ 切り絵ボトルアート  カミヤ・ハセ, “カミヤ・ハセ（紙屋初瀬）プロフィール”

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Learning the Basics, What is Kirie and Origami? 

To truly appreciate Kamiya Hasse’s work, we first need a basic understanding of the traditional Japanese arts she utilizes. So, let’s have a look at what Kirie and Origami are. 

切り絵 (kirie) is the Japanese art of paper cutting to form a design, pattern or picture. In Japan, kirie is made with Japanese washi paper. The first step in kirie is to prepare a design. Then, to cut out the inner parts of the design with a sharp blade to form the shape. The more complicated and intricate the design, the harder it is. 

折り紙 (origami) is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding to form different shapes. You can read more about Origami in detail here. 

Kirie and Origami are usually 2 separate forms of traditional Japanese art, but Kamiya Hasse brings it one step further by folding, aka “origami-ing”, the paper cutouts to make 3D kirie. 

3D Kirie with Kirie X Origami

The next step after papercutting is folding in origami-style to make 3D shapes that Kamiya Hasse calls “Kiriorigami”. The final piece is beautiful in its delicateness. 

Kiriorigami Parakeet

#私の世界へご案内します (showing my world)
kirie x origami =↓

(Translation)

Kiriorigami Goldfish

A 3D realistic goldfish is formed when you fold the strange paper cutout in half. 10 seconds video.
#切り絵折り紙 (kirie origami)

(Translation)

Kamiya Hasse usually posts time-lapsed short videos on Twitter that are barely a minute long for viewers to have a quick look at her work process. If you are interested to watch the full no-time lapse video, and learn how to make one yourself, then definitely check out her Youtube channel. 

Here’s how to make the above Kiriorigami Goldfish which Kamiya Hasse ranks as low in difficulty - 1 out of 5 stars. The video description also includes a shop link where you can buy the goldfish's design template. 

A New Original Creation “Kirie Bottle Art”

With a completed 3D Kiriorigami, the next step is to stuff it in a bottle to make Kirie Bottle Art. Sounds simple? It’s not because the Kiriorigami, made with paper, can be delicate. Care must be taken so that the kiriorigami does not become damaged when being inserted into the bottle. 

You may wonder how the Kiriorigami can possibly fit inside the bottle. It is folded up, rolled up, inserted, and reopened after inserted inside the bottle. For example, this beautiful lotus that bloomed inside a bottle with a thin mouth. 

#制作過程 (making procedure)
Once made, it is folded, rolled up into the jar, and opened inside. A very time consuming task. 

(Translation)

Following Kamiya Hasse’s Twitter posts, there have been sad incidences of failures, so for particularly difficult pieces, she takes photos of the completed 3D Kiriorigami beforehand to preserve the memory. Just in case, it does not make it safely inside. 

Let’s have a look at some more beautiful Kirie Bottle Art created by Kamiya Hasse. Though called “bottle art”, she utilizes a variety of containers including flasks, globes, windchimes, etc. 

Butterflies in a Bottle

Made as a display item for Shibuya Gallery. The theme of this piece is "dream (夢)" and features butterflies kept in a small bottle. 

Turtle in a Globe

One of Kamiya Hasse’s impressive pieces. The details on the globe adds to the undersea impression. 

Twitter Link

Cats in a Flask

A tribute to Japanese author Hagiwara Sakutarou (萩原 朔太郎)’s literary collection called “Cat Town (猫町)”. 

Twitter Link

Alice in Wonderland in a Bottle

Titled “I wonder”, this bottle art is described as “Alice who has fallen into a hole when chasing the rabbit”. The impressiveness of this piece is evident just by looking. 

Assortment of Windchimes

One of my favourites from Kamiya Hasse’s creations are the beautiful windchimes that I want to decorate my window with. They’re cute and carry the feeling of a Japanese summer. 

Seasons in a Bottle 

Great as decorations to represent the seasons. This is a collection of some of Kamiya Hasse’s simpler but no less beautiful bottle arts. There’s wisteria accompanied by a swallow and cherry blossoms for spring, and hydrangeas and morning glories for summer. 

Bonus : Kirigami with Sweets Boxes

Kamiya Hasse’s playful side reveals itself with these fishes made from Japanese sweets boxes. Strawberry Pocky, Ghana white chocolate, etc. Just goes to show you can use anything to make art!

#私の世界へご案内します (showing my world)
Into a world of sweets you never knew existed

(Translation)

Kamiya Hasse’s beautiful, elegant, sometimes cute, Kirie Bottle Art makes for excellent gifts and a special home decoration. Ready stock are available at the Online Shop, while made-to-order pieces can be chosen from a catalogue or custom made by reaching Kamiya Hasse (check the Contact page). 

For people who simply want to admire the beauty of her works, you can support Kamiya Hasse by following her social media. Her Youtube channel is highly recommended for those who want to try a hand at making Kirigami. 

Photos provided courtesy of Kamiya Hasse 紙屋初瀬 (Official Website, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube)