Jeffrey Nishinaka

Los Angeles, CA

Posted: 7.20.10

More info: Artist site

(4.35 - 159 votes)

About Jeffrey:

Los Angeles native Jeff Nisinaka is a premier paper sculptor with a prolific career that spans 28 years. Nishinaka attended UCLA and graduated from the prestigious Art Center College of Design, where he first experimented with paper art and sculpture. Nishinaka’s commercial portfolio includes Bloomingdale’s, Galeries Lafayette, Sprint, The Peninsula Hotel, Visa and Coca Cola. Actor Jackie Chan, who is a close friend of the artist, owns the largest collection of Nishinaka’s work.

Jeff on his work:

I have always wanted to be a painter, but while studying illustration at Art Center, I was given assignments in both a graphic design and fashion drawing class at the same time to experiment in different mediums, one of them being paper. That was my big “Ah-Ha!” moment. I quickly developed a feel for working with paper. From then on, I began experimenting with different papers, finding ways to shape, bend and round edges on it. I wanted to manipulate paper in the least invasive way, to keep the integrity and fell of it. Paper to me is a living, breathing thing that has a life of it’s own. I just try to redirect that energy into something that feels animated and alive.