Shining Shadow Part II - Kozo Studio x DEXEMBELL
At Kozo Studio, we are always curious about how paper can move beyond its expected role. That curiosity is what brought us into collaboration with DEXEMBELL (Kanoknuch Sillapawisawakul), whose ongoing Shining Shadow series continues to challenge how we think about paper, structure, and space.
The latest chapter, Shining Shadow Part II, was presented at MANA Art Gallery as part of เฉิดฉาย SHINING: Group Exhibition from 8 to 23 February 2025. The work builds on earlier iterations of the project, pushing further into the relationship between light, shadow, and the hidden interior of paper forms.
Sculptural forms made from mulberry paper explore light, shadow, and hidden interior spaces in Shining Shadow Part II, a collaboration with DEXEMBELL.
Seeing the Unseen in Packaging Forms
This series explores “hidden and layered spaces” within packaging structures, spaces that are often overlooked and never revealed. Through glue-free paper structures, new forms, dimensions, and shades of color emerge as the works interact with light.
Rather than functioning as conventional packaging designed to support a product, Shining Shadow Part II serves to tell a story and reflect identity. Sculptural forms made from Thai mulberry paper are combined with high-resolution printing, fluorescent inks, and a design approach that reveals the beauty of what lies beneath the surface, the spaces that were once hidden.
Illuminated sculptural forms made from mulberry paper reveal hidden layers of color and structure through light and shadow.
Process and Precision
The series consists of eight three-dimensional works, constructed without glue using a combination of folding and die-cut techniques. Each piece required careful planning, from how the paper would be cut and folded to how light would be hidden and released within the structure.
This attention to detail allows the work to sit somewhere between design object and sculpture. It questions familiar ideas of packaging while opening up new possibilities for paper as a material capable of carrying meaning, atmosphere, and narrative.
Color and form studies for Shining Shadow Part II, exploring gradients, geometric shapes, and layered compositions developed for mulberry paper structures.
Choosing the Right Paper
For this project, DEXEMBELL selected several types of Thai mulberry paper from Kozo Studio, including:
Each paper brings its own qualities, from differences in thickness and surface to variations in tone, while sharing the characteristics that define kozo paper. Strong natural fibers, softness, and translucency allow light to pass through the structures in subtle ways, making the paper an active part of the work rather than just a surface.
Printed elements and fluorescent inks add another layer of interaction. Under external light, colors appear vivid and reflective. When lit from within, layers and internal forms gradually come into view, creating overlapping moments of glow and shadow.
