Meet Monami Ohno and Her Wondrous Works of Cardboard Art

[Sept 1, 2021: Milica Veljkovic]

Artist Monami Ohno is formally trained in 3-D animation, but the Japanese creative has made a name for herself as a sculptor.

Ohno has opted to specialize in an unusual medium: cardboard. Specifically, Ohno uses discarded Amazon boxes to create her collection of jaw-dropping and detailed cardboard sculptures.

“I tried making something out of [the boxes],” she explains, “found out that cardboard is a surprisingly fun medium to work with, and from there I really started getting into creating with it!”

Ohno has held exhibitions in Japan, where she puts a handful of her favorite pieces on display. She sells her sculptures to companies and fans in the public but says most of the time she’s creating for her enjoyment.

Monami Ohno studied at the Osaka University of Arts and due to her amazing talent, she has featured in magazines, websites, and news in Japan.

She is also not stingy in sharing her talent with others as she also conducts workshops on how to teach people to create their own cardboard creations.

Some of her most impressive sculptural works of art are high-spirited creatures and monsters, realistic representations of food and drink, functioning shoes, and elaborate vehicles.

Each piece is composed of multiple parts intricately pieced together, allowing Ohno to impressively achieve various textures, patterns, and features.

Given the level of detail apparent in each piece of upcycled art, the simplicity of Ohno’s tools may surprise you.

“My favorites are the Millennium Falcon and the DeLorean,” Ohno says. “I am a fan of movies.”

To make her striking sculptures, she uses only a pair of scissors, a standard box cutter, a ruler, glue, and masking tape.

“Cardboard is hard to use, but it is soft and easy to process,” Ohno says. Spheres and bodies are among the most difficult shapes to create, so she often sticks to the rigid and mechanical forms of machines.

The variety of pieces is admirable but she admits she makes many mistakes and has used more boxes than she can remember.

“Cardboard will always have a special place in my heart, going back to childhood when there were few toys as inspiring as a freshly emptied cardboard box.”

“With cardboard, we could create anything and pretend to be anyone, from a king of a castle to an astronaut in a spaceship. The only limit is our own imagination.”

She hasn’t shied away from creatures like Godzilla and Bowser, but she’s proudest of her film-inspired vehicles.

Be sure to visit Ohno’s Instagram Page for more of her fantastic cardboard art!

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