Shadow Portraits by Kumi Yamashita

Kumi Yamashita proves simplicity is key by using just paper and light as her mediums. The New York-based and Japanese artist uses origami techniques to create deliberate folds in colored paper; and when attached to a wall, those folds cast shadows that depict people’s portraits—the most recent being German chancellor Angela Merkel. The pieces take about thirty minutes to make, and can portray a wide range of characteristics (though beards are particularly tricky). Yamashita describes her artistic process as having “a Japanese tendency—simplicity, the tendency to reduce things.”