Over 2007 Chie Hitotsuyama adopts an illustration project and goes to Africa. There she meets a rhino who is rescued by poachers and the warmth in his eyes stays with her forever. This journey became a huge inspiration and Chie started a series of animal-themed art sculptures. Together with their partner Tomiji Tamai, they create realistic animal figures in full size from newspapers. Each sculpture is created by cutting the newspaper into strips, wetting it and winding it to produce thin long cones that create realistic images.
Hitotsuyama's studio is located in Shizioka, Japan, in an old paper mill that was owned by her family. Last month, a series of exhibitions began in America. It can now be seen in Chicago, at the Jeffrey Breslow Gallery, (23 September, 2016 - 15 January, 2017) and Lancaster MOAH Museum, (2 October, 2016 - 7- January, 2017)
