Today I would like to share with you these magnificently beautiful paper artworks, from Nevada City based visual artist Tahiti Pehrson. I have always had a weakness for circle shapes, and as it just so happens, Pehrson’s latest paper cuts are all about circles. With no beginning or end, representing wholeness and unity, viewers are miraculous drawn into a flow of complex patterns. You can easily find yourself in a meditative mood just by staring at these amazing paper cuts.

Pehrson grew up as part of an artist family and has been cutting paper for the last 15 years. He creates two dimensional wall pieces as well as three dimensional sculptural works by using white cotton rag paper. He has exhibited at many San Francisco galleries as well as in Portland, New York and Paris.

Pehrson’s artworks combine both the complex systemic patterns inspired by architectural forms as well as motifs from nature. While cutting patterns out of money, Pehrson discovered the Guilloche patterns (dating back to 1700) and has used these ancient architectural patterns in his paper cuts. But his paper cuts are also connected to the landscapes and nature he lives in. Pehrson has been intrigued by biological processes of animals, micro-organisms and plants, and likes to examine their dense motifs. Similar to the way plants organize themselves to receive light, Pehrson’s work is organized by smaller cutouts and larger cutouts that balance the structure of each artwork.

Looking at Tahiti Pehrson’s mesmerizing paper circles, I am intrigued by the special energy that circulates through the play of shadows and light. I must remind myself of the fragility of these works, and of the fact that they are the outcome of endless hours of labor.

If you would like to see Pehrson’s art up front, there is an exhibition coming up at Mouki Gallery on 29 Chiltern Street in London at the beginning of December. If only I was living around the corner …..