As kids, many of us loved looking into kaleidoscopes. Entranced by the dazzling array of repeating colors and shapes that fold and collapse into infinity, we’d continuously rotate the device as we oohed and aahed. But sometimes, a kaleidoscope might produce a pattern so enchanting that we’ll be completely mesmerized and stop tinkering with it completely as to not disturb the delicate design within.
This is the essence of what Mumbai-based artist Zubin Jhaveri wanted to capture through his Kaleidoscope series. Created by cutting and layering multicolored sheets of paper, Jhaveri’s intricate sculptures aim to invoke a sense of enchantment that rivals the experience of peering into a kaleidoscope for the first time. He describes the series as “something that would make you, the viewer, feel fascinated and hypnotized as you try to decode the secrets it holds.”
万花筒，是我们每个人在小时候都会喜欢的玩具之一，我们都曾为里面简单却又无限迷人玻璃碎片着迷不已，以至于常常被其中随机的某个图案迷住，不想它被移动，扰乱了那浑然天成的设计。
这系列就是来自印度孟买的艺术家 Zubin Jhaveri 的作品。他想通过他层层叠叠的纸雕，以捕捉下来“万花筒”之精髓。“如果你想试图去破译它的秘密，你就会和其他观众一样，为之深深着迷，甚至会感到有种被催眠的魔力。” Zubin 说，他的目标就是创造出像万花筒那样迷人的东西，让人们无法将眼睛从它身上移开。
Speaking with Jhaveri, one thing is clear – his insatiable curiosity towards life and all of its beautiful details is an endless source of artistic inspiration. He says, “Kaleidoscopes were something that fascinated me as a kid, but to my surprise, revisiting it as an adult, I found myself even more captivated by it.”
“我最新作品灵感就从万花筒中迷人的几何图形和颜色而来。它是我从小就为之着迷的东西，现在再看，可以说是更甚了。”那些每天都在我们身边的细小事物，就会让 Zubin 产生无穷的灵感。
While Jhaveri is open to experimenting with different materials and mediums, paper remains one of his favorite mediums. He often worked with paper to create different miniature sculptures even before he had the idea for Kaleidoscope. “Having worked on paper models in the past made it easier for me to visualize and transform 2D illustrations and materials into 3D for this project,” he explains.
As a culmination of his past experiences with creating paper-based models, Kaleidoscope sees Jhaveri taking the seemingly simple medium of paper to new levels and using it to showcase the complexity and geometric beauty of one of his favorite toys.
Zubin 喜欢用纸做作品，喜欢让作品变得有趣多元。在此前，他也做过三维空间的纸雕作品，立体的设计为他提供了非常不同的创作方法，“这让我更容易地将二维的图和材料可视化，并转化为三维的艺术。”因此在这最新的“万花筒”系列中，Zubin 也纳入了这样的方法，使三维空间中的每一层都进行了相应的设计，让纸与纸重叠拼合，重现出“万花筒”一般繁复而迷人的立体几何图案。
