Meet the Qrafties II: Nick Tsao, Founder of Tsaoao Design

5 Mins Read

Tsaoao Design is a paper crafts studio aspiring to reintegrate traditional crafts into the digital age. Founder Nick Tsao is a practicing architect in Hong Kong living in the historic Wanchai Bluehouse where he shares his passion for traditional crafts.

We know that you are a practicing architect in Hong Kong by day. What makes you start and be passionate about papercutting?

I spent the first few years of my architecture career building card models at Foster + Parnters. When I set off to make my first papercutting creation in 2015, I found that the skills of cutting card by hand was directly transferrable. I have to admit that papercutting is quite time consuming, just like many other art forms, but I find it very rewarding to have a physical, tactile piece of art as proof of that labour of love.

Papercutting is a traditional folk art. Have you incorporated any skills from your architectural background into your art?

Papercutting is a folk art that is traditionally practiced at home, depicting rural agricultural life or auspicious motifs. I try to bring in contemporary design aesthetics and word-play while respecting the fundamentals of the art form. For the Chinese New Year series, I intentionally go back to basics by sketching the design in pencil, then cutting each prototype by hand. For more complex projects, I take advantage of the software skills I have acquired from architecture: photoshop, illustrator, indesign, ipad sketching and even 3D modeling.

Congrats on receiving the DFA Design For Asia Merit Award in 2023! What inspired you to create the zodiac series each year?

On the advent of the Year of the Goat in 2015, I scoured new year markets in search of novel designs for decorations, but was not impressed by the options. After some research, I found some traditional Red Paper at an incense store and set off drawing my own design. My first pieces used goat-based puns such as 咩啊 and 要咩有咩, a phrase borrowed from an endearing supermarket advertisement. Since then I have maintained a tradition of designing a new piece for the upcoming zodiac (almost) every year, at first only hand-cuttting one or two dozen for family and friends. As more friends requested to buy them, my hobby slowly grew into a small business.

What is the most challenging part of paper cutting, and what keeps you going and motivated?

I think the most challenging part of my journey has been trying to convince factories to use traditional materials. The zodiac papercuttings are made of traditional Red Paper. This thin and delicate paper cannot easily be processed by machines such as laminators or die-cutters, and the fibers burn easily when put through a laser cutter. The first thing most factories ask me is why I don’t substitute it with a manufactured paper of a similar colour. For me, the texture of the paper and its associated traditions is irreplaceable. My conviction is validated by the feedback I receive from customers who appreciate the links to our cultural heritage.

The Blue House in Wanchai is an iconic piece of architecture in Hong Kong and is full of community and cultural activities after the revitalization. Has living in the Blue House inspired your creative journey in any way?

Being a resident in the Blue House has exposed me to many communities who are similarly passionate about Hong Kong history and other traditional crafts. Blue House is a vibrant environment where skills and ideas can be exchange. I give papeructting classes and architectural tours of the building. In return, I have also joined classes to make bamboo lanterns, terrazzo sculptures and even Hong Kong Milk tea. I hope to use this platform to spread knowledge and skills of papercutting crafts.

Share with us the most memorable responses you had for your papercut art!

I love it when customers share photographs of my decorations in their homes, especially when they have traveled across the globe as gifts or as a reminder of Hong Kong in a foreign land. Many customers keep their decorations up all year and only replace them when they receive the following zodiac. They then slide them back in the box and look forward to completing the collection in 11 years’ time.

Have you ever faced creative blockage, and if so, how do you keep your creative juices flowing?

I encounter creative blocks all the time. Year of the Dragon has been a particularly tough year because dragons have been drawn in endless formats and iterations that it feels daunting to come up with unique ideas. To keep my creative juices flowing, I flick through my growing library of art reference books or browse the works of papercutting masters.

What are your views on AI-generated art, and do you see yourself incorporating it into your work in the future?

The capabilities of AI are evolving so quickly. For Year of the Rabbit, I teamed up with a friend teaching AI design at PolyU to train a stable diffusion AI to replicate the style of a ‘Nick Tsao Papercutting’. Within a year, that technology has now become commonplace and accessible to everyone. I think that AI-generated art has huge potential to help artists in their process if the results can be more precisely controlled and manipulated. It needs to be developed as a tool rather than an end-product.

What are your thoughts on the significance of traditional craftsmanship for a culture, and how can people contribute to keeping traditional craftsmanship alive in Hong Kong?

I believe that craftsmanship is an important carrier of tradition across generations. As manufacturing industries decline, it is inevitable that Hong Kong will be seeing fewer professional craftspeople, but many of their skills could take on a life in a domestic setting as hobbies. We can see great examples such as knitwear, leatherwork or calligraphy. I hope that papercutting could grow as a hobby that gets passed onto future generations like how parents pass down family recipes. I have seen that Hong Kong people love trying new things through workshops, but I hope that they can focus on a long term hobby and build on their skills.

“Do more and keep growing. Put in the hours, get your ideas out of your head and into action so that you can free up your brain for the next thing.”

— Nick Tsao, Founder of Tsaoao Design

What advice would you give to people who want to turn their passion for art and design into a career?

My advice is to ‘Do more and keep growing’. Not every idea is going to be successful or grow into a business. Don’t be too fixated on what the final product or business model will be, because it will be constantly evolving. Put in the hours, get your ideas out of your head and into action so that you can free up your brain for the next thing.

What's next for your creative journey after successfully launching your zodiac design series? Give us a teaser!

In the coming year, I will be working on larger fine-art pieces involving more complex layered papercuttings. My first series will be on the theme of Hong Kong architectural heritage.

Words from our Founder

“I had the pleasure of meeting Nick at a creative community event in Hong Kong. I was truly inspired by his passion and dedication to the traditional art of paper cutting, which he practices alongside his full-time job. Nick struck me as extremely detail-oriented, always striving to improve and perfect his craft. He has even participated in the Qraftie Market to improve his skills further. It's unfortunate to see many traditional crafts fading away as technology advances, but it's wonderful to see individuals like Nick keeping the art of papercutting alive through their passion and hard work. I'm grateful to have Nick as part of the Qraftie community, and I'm excited to see what stunning creations he comes up with next.”

Thank you for being an appreciative reader, as always. Meet the Qrafties II is a series of Qraftie sellers’ stories, sharing with you the passion and hard work behind the creative works you see in their Qraftie stores. If you enjoy reading this blog post, please share it with your family and friends. Stay tuned for our next Meet the Qrafties story.

February 2024