Diagnosed with abdominal cancer in 1941, Matisse underwent surgery that left him chair and bedbound. Limited in mobility, he could no longer paint or sculpt. Instead, he never stopped and invented cut forms from coloured paper that he arranged as collages, and decoupage which became known as the “cut-outs”. That same year, at the age of 74, Matisse began Jazz. It is important here to understand that even when the artist isn’t able to use the more conventional art forms, the art in him still comes out in different forms. It is this spirit of Matisse that is remarkable, to make something so beautiful out of a piece of paper, paints or not.

I thus created the cover page for Matisse’s biography ‘Jazz’ for Taschen publishers using this cut-out style. I inherited Matisse’s cut outs and I developed my own style, which contains more corners and sharp edges. The movement of the scissors and the hands are straighter in order to cut the papers so. The aim was to cut the papers ‘carelessly’ but also to maintain the symmetry of the form. The cover is a portrait of Matisse in my cut-out style giving tribute to the great artist.