Paper-cutting artist Xie Yun hosts paper-cutting workshops, and runs an art studio, in Toronto, Canada. Rooted in traditional Chinese paper-cutting techniques, she skillfully incorporates Western artistic concepts as she explores a fusion of Chinese and Western artistic expression — through innovation, while at the same time preserving tradition. She pursues her artistic dream in diverse ways; of course, she ensures her techniques allow the beauty of traditional Chinese culture to shine in her adopted homeland.
From Painting to Paper-Cutting
Xie was born in Huangpu, a district in east China's Shanghai Municipality. When she was 8, Xie began studying sketching every Sunday, and her talent for painting gradually emerged. Her works were often selected and displayed during various exhibitions. When she was in Grade 6, one of her watercolor paintings was selected for inclusion in a children's painting-exchange exhibition between Shanghai and Yokohama, Japan. Her inclusion fueled her passion for painting.
Xie also had an innate love for paper-cutting. When she was young, her family lived on Huanghe Road, near the City God Temple, an area with many shops that sold Shanghai-style paper-cuts.
Xie often visited the shops during her winter and summer vacations. She admired the paper-cuts, and she used her New Year's gift money to buy the works she liked. "I still keep a set of colored landscape papercuts carved on rice paper. Every time I pick them up, I can't put them down," she says.
Additionally, her father would bring home a copy of Xinmin Evening News every day after work. The newspaper often contained small, square paper-cut prints. Xie would collect the paper-cut prints, and she would practice making the paper-cuts. Xie was a child who could sit still for long periods of time. During her spare time, while other children played in the alleyways, Xie sat at home, engrossed in making paper-cuts. "Just like painting, my obsession with paper-cutting became unstoppable," she says.
Xie eventually enrolled in an art school. After she graduated, she taught at the art school before she joined an advertising and media company, where she worked in graphic design and promotion. Despite her busy work schedule, she never lost her passion for paper-cutting.
As her paper-cutting skills became increasingly refined, Xie became a member of Shanghai Folk Literature and Art Association. Membership gave her opportunities to exchange creative experiences with other artists.
Creative Inspiration
Xie and her family moved to Canada in 2006. "Far away from my hometown, relatives and friends, my heart suddenly felt empty," Xie recalls. Paper-cutting became her spiritual solace to fill that void. She created many paper-cuts, infused with traditional Chinese elements, and hung them on the walls of her home. The art decorated the rooms, and eased her homesickness.
One day, a Canadian friend visited Xie's home, and her friend fell in love with one of the paper-cuts. Believing that paper-cut held high artistic value, Xie's friend insisted on buying it. Xie then realized the pursuit of beauty transcends national boundaries, and that paper-cuts perfectly showcase the beauty of traditional Chinese art.
Xie hoped to introduce the unique charm of Chinese paper-cuts to more of her friends. She visited galleries, with her portfolio, to enquire about exhibition opportunities. She was always rejected. The reason? The galleries' staff "could not determine whether paper-cutting art has market potential," Xie recalls.
Despite the recurring setbacks, Xie did not lose heart. She analyzed the situation, and she realized the main issue was the lack of understanding about the traditional art form of Chinese paper-cutting.
To help locals become familiar with, understand, accept and learn to love paper-cutting, Xie decided to bridge the gap with the community. She joined a local art association, and she used that group's exhibitions to showcase her paper-cuts.
In 2007, her first exhibited paper-cut generated an enthusiastic response, and it was featured in local media reports. Since then, Xie has exhibited her paper-cuts twice a year. Through her paper-cuts, she has made many friends from different cultural backgrounds.
One day, in 2012, while she was sitting alone in her garden, Xie watched as many birds flocked to eat the food, which she had prepared for them. She suddenly felt the urge to create a paper-cut, themed "Birds Foraging."
"Birds Foraging" became her first nature-themed paper-cut. Xie shaped the flowers with the artistic concept of a traditional Chinese painting, used paper-cutting techniques to depict the birds' delicate feathers, and infused her own reflections on life.
During the 2018 Christmas season, Xie held a solo paper-cutting exhibition in the main entry of Toronto City Hall. She presented a variety of exquisite paper-cuts, and several of the items sold on the first day.
After the month-long exhibition ended, many people wanted to see more of her paper-cuts; so, they visited Xie's home. Some even brought their own scissors, in the desire to learn how to make paper-cuts while visiting Xie's home.
As her reputation grew, Xie received invitations, sometimes year after year, to demonstrate Chinese paper-cutting in neighboring cities. Her works also became the highlight of local cultural festivals, New Year's gatherings, and various other events.
Taking Root, Overseas
Influenced by Xie, there has been a surge in enthusiasm for learning paper-cutting in the greater Toronto area in recent years. Several art associations and institutions have established Chinese paper-cutting workshops. They have also invited Xie to teach.
To make it easier for her students to learn, Xie generally selects paper-cuts with relatively simple patterns, and which embody traditional Chinese culture. She provides detailed accounts of the long history of Chinese paper-cutting, explains the auspicious meanings of paper-cuts, and demonstrates the basic steps of cutting and carving. Usually, within two hours, her students are able to complete a decent paper-cut.
In 2024, at the beginning of the Year of the Loong, Xie was invited by an art association to host a live paper-cutting session on Facebook to teach viewers around the world how to cut a loong (or Chinese dragon).
After the livestream, a British netizen submitted a paper-cut of a loong head. She asked Xie for feedback; the woman explained it had been her first time learning to make a Chinese paper-cut, and she added she was happy with her result. Xie felt gratified, and she became more deeply aware of her responsibility, as a paper-cut artist, to promote Chinese culture.
Xie believes painting is the fundamental skill of paper-cutting. When she is not creating paper-cuts, she creates a large number of sketches, which she says helps her continuously improve both her shaping skills and her artistic expression.
Xie developed friendships with many of the Chinese living near her home, and many of her Chinese friends suggested she teach overseas Chinese children how to paint. Later, Xie established YUN Art Studio, through which she has since offered painting courses to overseas Chinese children.
To tailor her teaching to the students' different needs, Xie divided the classes, into interest classes and professional classes. During the interest classes, Xie teaches based on the children's interests, and she guides them to perceive the world by drawing "what they want to draw." In the professional classes, Xie focuses on cultivating students' artistic literacy, and she guides them as they create their portfolios.
Xie teaches in both Chinese and English, which helps the children become familiar with the Chinese language while studying art. The studio has cultivated many talented, and outstanding artists. Some adults, who love painting, have also joined her studio.
As an art instructor, in the Chinese community in Milton, a city in the greater Toronto area, Xie has collaborated with local Chinese-language schools to establish paper-cutting classes in their facilities.
Xie designs items children love — such as cakes and ice cream — into paper-cut patterns that are easy to draw and fold. She encourages the students to use their imaginations, to extend their creations based on the designs.
"As long as the difficulty of getting started is moderately reduced, and the fun of the patterns is increased, it is easier for the children to fall in love with paper-cutting, and to potentially create better works," Xie says. "After class, the children's works always surprise me, and the parents praise them as well."
Xie, who has lived overseas for many years, has promoted paper-cutting in various regions of Canada, and she has shared her creative insights with audiences from diverse cultural backgrounds. Xie has gained a new understanding of the development path of traditional Chinese culture.
"Our new generation of paper-cutting artists must explore a different path, through preserving traditions while pursuing innovation," she says.
Xie no longer limits her creations to the traditional red paper; instead, she experiments with multiple colors, to enhance the adaptability of her works to different settings.
In terms of paper-cutting forms, she uses traditional Chinese motifs, such as "Carp Leaping over the Dragon Gate" and "Chang'e Flying to the Moon," as design elements, and she integrates Western artistic concepts, like "layering" and "light and shadow," when she makes paper-cuts. Her skillful fusion of traditional Chinese art and modern Western art has resulted in a highly expressive and captivating paper-cutting style.
"Paper-cutting is an indispensable part of my life. My paper-cutting style is constantly being innovated. My works appear very modern to domestic Chinese audiences, and very Oriental to audiences from other countries. In the future, I will continue working hard to cut out a unique style of Chinese beauty," Xie says.
Photos from Interviewee
(Women of China English Monthly August 2026)
Editor: Wang Shasha
