Meet the Cardboard Tony Stark
We're excited to introduce you to 20-year-old "Cardboard Artist" and Taiwanese student 鍾凱翔 (Kai-Xiang Xhong). The stunning craftsmanship and detail he applied to his first cardboard creation, “The Dragon,” left our students, fans, and all of us at Stan Winston School speechless. We anxiously waited for nearly a year to see what he would create next, and we were blown away to see all of his new work, including a full-size, wearable cardboard Iron Man suit!
Enjoy his story!
- The Artistic Journey of Kai-Xiang Xhong
- Finding His Passion for Sculpting
- Building Iron Man Out of Cardboard
- Continuing to Create
The Artistic Journey of Kai-Xiang Xhong
(In a departure from his usual medium, Xhongkai made the Alien out of drinking straws.)
I have been interested in the things that all boys have liked since I was little. For example, animals, monsters, robots, and dinosaurs.
(A cardboard horse and a cardboard dragon. The dragon was Xhongkai's first creation, and it remains his favorite piece.)
Finding His Passion for Sculpting
I just drew them at first; then I started to love making paper sculptures in junior high school and creating with cardboard has been my main focus from senior high school until now.
(Xhongkai encourages people to make what they love, using the materials they have on hand. You don't need a lot of money to make a cardboard Alien Doorknocker.)
I have since produced lots of artwork with cardboard. For example, Optimus Prime from Transformers, skeletons of the T-Rex and a Pterodactyl, an Iron Man suit, and so on. And the last three of them were all made full-size.
(Cardboard Optimus Prime, a samurai helmet, and a stunningly life-like bird. All made out of cardboard.)
Building Iron Man Out of Cardboard
For my cardboard Iron Man suit, I used the pepakura technique. However, I did not add any special color to the surface. Keeping the cardboard color and texture was deliberate. That’s my style.
(It took Xhongkai a year of working on the Iron Man suit in his spare time to complete it.)
Continuing to Create
Now I am 20 years old. Creating is the most important part of my life. I hope I can keep going in the future.
(The Bearded Dragon is so life-like that some of the SWSCA staff thought it was a REAL pet!)
You are welcome to visit my Facebook Page. You will see more artwork in more materials, including food! Thank you for checking out my art.
- 鍾凱翔 (Kai-Xiang Xhong)