Simon Greiner
Simon is an illustrator and artist who's work has appeared on the front cover of the New Yorker magazine as well as a number of children's books. He first started making cardboard art with his children during lockdown, and began posting it to Instagram as @thecardboarddad. Since then his cardboard work has been featured in the Guardian, and he has run workshops for the Centre for Creativity at the Sydney Opera House. Last year he won the inaugural Officeworks Create-a-thon with Edan Lacey, an overnight creative competition in Melbourne, for which his team built the "Dream Vessel", an interactive installation made from over 64 cardboard boxes and a variety of lo-fi, hand operated mechanisms.
Current work
Cardboard Menagerie is about play - exploring a simple everyday material like cardboard, and turning it into something fun.
Cardboard craft is often associated with children’s play. It is versatile and pliable, and at its most abstract can be imbued with any quality a child wants. This idea of potential that is inherent in a cardboard is exciting, and it sits somewhere in between the simplicity of the material, and the complex levels of geometry and texture that can be reached.
The aim of this show is to celebrate the accessibility of cardboard, and in turn, the accessibility of art making and creative play. Everyone can get hold of a cardboard box, and a cardboard box can be anything.
The way Simon makes things out of cardboard is largely improvisatory, embracing the structure and movement of existing folds and shapes and feeling his way along. Knowing only that he's building a stable of unusual creatures, he allows himself the freedom of not knowing what this thing will become. The freedom of starting with nothing but a box, and the knowledge that sometimes making mistakes leads you somewhere unexpected.
His current work is a series of masks and sculptures of imaginary creatures for an upcoming exhibition. He draws largely from his imagination, and improvises a lot as part of his process. "Where I end up is always a bit of a surprise - I think embracing the unknown makes the work feel more dynamic".
Simon tries to make his work accessible, especially to a younger audience. His hope is that they come away with the idea that creative practice and play is for everyone. You don't need anything more than a bit of cardboard or a pencil to make art. All you need to do is actually make something.
Upcoming shows and workshops
Cardboard Menagerie at Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Camperdown, March 16 - April 2
There will be a drop in craft station as part of the exhibition - where people can stop in during opening hours and build their own masks, creatures, or whatever takes their fancy.
Follow Simon on Instagram @simonchristophergreiner or @thecardboarddad or visit his website.