PAPER SCISSORS

A pilgrimage into the Alpine origins of Swiss paper cutting reveals a resurgence of the high craft at the hands of a fresh generation of artists.

- TRACEY MINKIN

The jagged ridgelines of its Alps, the broad slopes of its chalets, the bristled branches of its forests he slices these intricate shapes into the paper spread before us.

I watch as he takes a breath, steadies his cutting hand, and traces the minute curve of a leafing tree, plucking out the tiny shards of paper with the knife's tip and blowing them out of the way. Down goes the knife again, another curve, another bit of negative space removed, as Mottier carves out more of the scene that will render a Swiss idyll in silhouette.

I'm here on this sunlit fall morning on a pilgrimage of paper, a journey into the rural origins and modern practice of Scherenschnitte, which translates from no-nonsense German into "scissor cuts." (In Switzerland's French-speaking cantons, it's the more lyrical découpage.) No matter the language, this is a deeply Swiss practice that has transcended from craft to art form to national emblem. And it all began here, in the steep-sided valleys of this high country called the Pays-d'Enhaut.