Laser-cut washi paper, 31 x 39cm, Aso 2015
Katagami (型紙) or Ise-katagami (伊勢型紙) is the Japanese craft of making paper stencils for dyeing textiles. Just as the production of washi paper itself it is designated one of the Important Intangible Cultural Properties of Japan. This art also involves the creation of special tools for making these stencils. Rożnowska was again fascinated by the technique as well as the process itself. After returning to Poland she even browsed through old katagami from the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw. Full of admiration for the precise craftsmanship of preparing the stencils, she decided to translate it into contemporary language, subjecting her drawing from Ubuyama to laser cutting – an extremely precise technique on the one hand, and a very advanced one on the other, making it possible to obtain very complicated shapes in various materials.