Can a piece of paper be magical? tragic? Or even witty? Kirsten Murray takes a look at how the creative world from sculptors and illustrators to designers and ad agencies are embracing the art of paper.

The art form of paper cutting and folding dates back to the 6th century in China, where Cai Lun invented paper. The well-known technique of Origami was also developed in this century after Chinese Buddhists brought paper to Japan. Fast forward to the 21st century and artists are still pushing the boundaries of what can be created from the humble piece of paper, proving that, in an age when computer-generated technologies make anything possible, pritt stick and scissors prevail.

Danish artist Peter Callesen transforms paper into whimsical works of art from installations of paper stairs to intricate paper cuts depicting fairytales and childhood memories.

Inspiration really has come from the strangest place for Jen Stark, whose sculptures, made from hand cut layers of card stock, were inspired by post-mortems and anatomy textbooks. In her own words they are “mathematically organic, colourful paper explosions”. In my own words it’s visual candy at its sweetest.

San Fransisco based Advertising Agency, Publicis & Hal Riney enlisted the award-winning director Olivier Gondry along with artist Su Blackwell, to create an engaging stop motion animation for Beringer Vineyards. To see just how much blood, sweat and paper went into creating the ad, you can see the making of the animation here.

Brazilian graphic designer and illustrator, Carlo Giovani, has a quirky style of paper engineering, which can be seen across his impressive portfolio including packaging for MTV, stop frame animation for Leo Burnett and paper animals for the New York Times. I particularly like this witty packaging design for Chinese tea.

These 3-dimensional paper sculptures are the work of British artist Richard Sweeney who scores and folds sheets of paper to create perfectly formed shapes, inspired by complex geometries, architecture and biological structures.

Argentinian ad agency Vegaolmosponce, come up with these charming ads for Rexona Skin Care which combine real life video footage with an animated paper doll, illustrated by Marguerite Sauvage. The animations were created by Passion Pictures, who scooped a D&AD award this year for their work on the Sony Bravia ‘Play-Doh’ ad.

This is recycling at its most creative. Brian Dettmerr dissects old textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopaedias, atlases, maps, and comic books to create complex three-dimensional sculptures that breathe new life and meaning into these once discarded items.

LA-based artist Chris Natrop creates room sized installations from the most delicate of paper cuts. Like an overgrown garden, the intertwining organic shapes interact with the light, casting a myriad of shadows which add another dimension to his work.

Matt Hawkin has created a world of paper creatures – robots, super heroes, monkeys, and even a guitar playing Rudolf. If you fancy making your own paper toy, you can get your mitts on one at www.custompapertoys.com There’s a different one to collect every month. Yay.

So what’s a girl to do once she’s suffered a paper cut or two making these toys? Put them in her new Hermes paper handbag of course!

Like a chocolate teapot or inflatable dartboard, this customisable bag is highly impractical and yet I feel compelled to own one. All I need now is a pair of paper Jimmy Choos to match.