The Kindest Cuts

Kirie, or the Japanese art of paper cutting, is an intricate study in traditional yet ultra-contemporary design in the disciplined hands of Hyakkimaru, whose exhibition, Hyakkimaru’s Kirie World, opens today at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center in conjunction with the upcoming Mountain Festival, a fiftieth-anniversary celebration of the Springs’ Sister City relationship with Fujiyoshida, Japan. In the show, the artist pays homage to the American equivalent of Japan’s Samurai warriors, farmers who took up arms to protect their communities. “In my opinion,” he says in a statement, “the earlier Samurai warriors are much like the Native American warriors. I feel attracted to such local warriors that were courageous and worked very hard to protect their families, and I try to portray such figures in my arts.”

Hyakkimaru will demonstrate his kirie techniques today at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. in the CSFAC’s Glass Corridor, as well as on August 4 at the Mountain Festival, which will also feature cultural villages, vendor booths, live performances and kids’ activities from noon to 8 p.m. in America the Beautiful Park, 126 Cimino Drive in Colorado Springs. Kirie World remains on view at the CSFAC, 30 West Dale Street in the Springs, through September 15; museum admission is $8.50 to $10, and also includes excellent current exhibits by perceptual artists James Turrell and Scott Johnson. Go to www.csfineartscenter.org for details.

Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: July 28. Continues through Sept. 15, 2012