Kanat Nurtazin is a Kazakhstan based artist who has become an Instagram sensation with his leaf cutting art. He says that his lead cutting art is a means of providing the tree leaves with a second life in which they are able to tell a whole new story thanks to his complex designs.
Kanat Nurtazin began his project ‘100 Methods of Drawing’ about four years ago. For this particular project, he experimented with a variety of ways for showing his artistic talent and skill. It was thanks to this project that he found out about the art of leaf-cutting and over the course of years it has become one of his favorite techniques.
The fleeting life span of the leaves is what inspires him. He finds the fact that the leaves perish just like humans fascinating and enjoys breathing a new kind of life into them for the sake of sharing stories with his Instagram followers. Kanat Nurtazin says, ‘I cut leaves to give them a second life that discovers an untold story. Simply I imagine a bright moment that I want to share with my audience. I draw it on the leaf and cut with a razor. The most important thing is to find the best suitable place to catch with my camera at the right time and right angle.’
Kanat Nurtazin begins the work by looking for tree leaves that are intact and suitable for his designs. He then uses glue to stick them onto pieces of hard paper for making them durable and sturdier. He then draws his designs on the paper and makes use of a razor for cutting the leaf. However, the final stroke is for him to find a suitable backdrop that can be used for telling his story via the leaf. He then captures a photo of the cut leaf from the right angle and shares it on Instagram.
