Drawn, printed, cut, and let out
Every Nipped Out piece starts as a graphite drawing of a real person in a real pose: someone climbing, hanging, running, hiding, thinking. We draw the whole figure, then decide which edge of the picture she is going to leave by.
The picture
The picture itself is printed on textured cream paper and framed in a solid black box frame with an A4 opening. It is mostly empty on purpose. The empty paper is what makes the escape read from across the room.
The figure
The figure is printed onto 3 mm FSC-certified birch plywood with a white base layer so the pencil tones stay true, sealed with a matt varnish so it looks like paper rather than plastic, then laser-cut around her outline. The laser leaves a fine dark edge that reads as a pencil line. She is mounted a few millimetres proud of the frame, so she casts a real shadow on your wall and changes with the light through the day.
One colour
Everything is graphite grey except one object: a rope, a ball, a kite, a torch. It is always the same chalky marigold yellow, and it is always the thing that helps her get out.
Where
Designed, printed, cut and packed in our own workshop in Lincolnshire, England. Every piece is made to order and leaves us within 3 to 5 working days, assembled and ready to hang, in a rigid box with a wall template so it goes up straight first time.