OCALA, FLA.- The Appleton Museum of Art, College of Central Florida, presents “Paper Thin & Shadow Deep: Hiromi Mizugai Moneyhun's Hand-Cut Paper Works,” on view through June 19.

Moneyhun moved to Jacksonville, FL in 2004 from her hometown of Kyoto, Japan. Her three-dimensional, cut-paper pieces are the result of a multistep process and are both traditional and modern at the same time. Her most significant early influence was “ehon,” a general term given to Japanese picture books, especially those that featured images taken from original paper cuts by Giro Takihira, who also was known as a woodblock print artist. Moneyhun’s tenacious attention to detail and abundance of patience are exemplified in each of her works, and they invite the viewer in for closer inspection of her mastery of this technique.

Moneyhun says, “Creating art is an essential part of my life. I do not have to make time for it. It is one of the things that I do every day. I eat. I sleep. I make art.” A self-taught artist, she endeavors to make the mundane extraordinary. Her techniques reflect incredible innovations to everyday materials, elevating the paper works to embody a sacred, almost meditative, state of art.

While Moneyhun is an artist of today, she is deeply informed by our collective past, making connections that are relevant to both our times and her life. For example, she often portrays family members in her imaginative and surreal works of art. Weeks and months pass by before works near completion. From a line drawing to a multi-step deletion of sheets of black archival paper via a hand-yielded knife blade, Moneyhun patiently mimics the line drawing’s contours. In essence, she excavates her drawing from the sheets of paper.

The artist will be at the Appleton on March 4 to give two free gallery tours of her solo exhibition as part of the monthly Free First Saturday event. On May 20, Moneyhun will teach two Florida-style Kyo Uchiwa fan workshops.