Cutting Edge

KZN artist Karla Nixon explores the urban environment through paper

- Candice Botha

What is your artistic background? 

My family are all creative. My mother is a singer and my father is a photographer, so there was always that influence. I took art at school and, although I considered performance art, I did a Fine Art degree at Durban University of Technology majoring in painting and sculpture. 

Paper cutting is an unusual medium. How did you discover it? 

My partner is influenced by street art and through him I came across Swoon, a New York artist who uses a mix of wheat paste prints and paper cut-outs to create murals. I was fascinated by the paper cutting aspect so I decided to try it myself and haven’t done anything else since. 

What appeals to you about working with paper?