The Art of

FOR Fairus Husain, quilling or paper filigree comes at ease. A self-taught artist, she uses paper as a medium comprising of colours, texture to come out with decorative designs. Passionate about art of typography, she aims to take it to the next level. At present, her main focus is on techniques like paper quilling and paper cutting as well.

For the 48th National Day of Oman, this Malaysian expatriate’s artwork showcases her expression of Oman as a peaceful country. The colours represent the flag, enveloping the map of the Sultanate and the fireworks as a form of expression for the special day.

Fairus who recently hogged limelight when she created letter ‘G,’ (Google’s logo), joined the #Mysuperg challenge through its Instagram handle. The ‘Super G’ was displayed on their profile picture and promoted the artist immensely through the social networking community. She received global attention and had a large following with messages praising her work.

When Fairus first began quilling, she learnt the art is done mainly as craftwork or hobby by people around the world. The ancient art also known as filigree, began centuries ago using silver or copper wires. When these metals became scarce, they used paper cut into strips as an alternative.

Traditionally, the strips used were only 3 mm wide and the shapes involved were mainly tight rolls and loose scrolls which then pressed and bent to imitate shapes of flower petals or leaves.

About how contemporary quilling differs from paper quilling, Fairus says contemporary quilling is similar to drawing the intricate details with lines and geometrical shapes rather than circles. This technique, she believes, started recently when the art was picked up by creative minds and given a new approach. The size of the strips used now varies from 3 mm to 10 mm wide.

Her style of quilling leans more towards the contemporary and uses mostly 10 mm paper strips. She uses acid-free papers and hand cuts each strip manually. Acid-free papers help to preserve the artwork for longer period as the colours do not fade over time. “I believe the aesthetic values of quilling lies in the intricate manipulation of the paper strips, neat and tidy