About

“I use an everyday medium, paper, and seek to make it feel alive and new. It is my primary medium due to its cheapness and availability. Coming from a working-class background, I wanted a material that I could endlessly experiment with. I find that exploring the relationship between light, form, and colour pushes the experimental boundaries of the material. My work is a balance between minimalism and bold, vibrant hues. I use this interplay to challenge perceptions of the world around us. The transformation of a simple sheet into intricate, dynamic structures is both therapeutic and transcendent. My practice serves as a form of escapism, a meditative process that allows me to focus purely on the interaction of shape and light. Influenced by both architecture and the natural environment, I am drawn to how light alters space and perception. I want my work to engage the viewer actively, the way light moves across the paper’s peaks and valleys shifts with the viewer’s perspective, making each interaction unique throughout the day. I am particularly interested in how light, whether natural or artificial, can manipulate color and form, enhancing the immersive quality of my pieces.”

Biography

Tinaye Makuyana (b. 2000, Harare, Zimbabwe) is a paper sculptor based in the United Kingdom. She began creating her signature paper sculptures while pursuing a BFA at Loughborough University. Her sculptures are crafted from 100% long cotton fibre paper, scored and moulded with a stencil knife to create sculptures that are playful, deceptive and curious. Her work is crafted to achieve a visual balance of geometric forms, with careful consideration regarding colour, form, and composition.

Through the process of paper folding, Tinaye explores the interplay of light, shadow, and geometry by replicating the shapes, depth and dimension found in architectural features. Optical illusions created using intense colour challenge audiences to question their surroundings and encourage contemplation about their perceptions of reality.

She received the Right of Discipline grant from the Antipode Foundation, and her sculpture, Lifeline (2024), will be installed and added to Loughborough University’s permanent collection. Has exhibited her work this year at London for a Group Exhibition with Cold Magazine (February 2025), has exhibited in Loughborough, Nottingham and Birmingham in 2024 and was awarded one to watch by Colette Griffin, Regional Director (part-time) of CVAN East Midlands, part of the National Contemporary Visual Arts Network (May 2023).