Belsize resident Peter Ayres has a lifelong passion for making art with paper and in recent years his unique paper sculptures have gained recognition. When his wall-mounted Sine Wave was chosen to be exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts 2024, Peter was happy to overhear visitors’ disbelief that it was created from a flat piece of paper.
It is mind boggling how Peter can make impressive 3D sculptures from one piece of paper cut and folded in so many ways. He says that one of his first creations was a twenty-pointed star, inspired by the five-pointed star that sat atop his grandmother’s Christmas tree.
Queen sculpture by Peter Ayres
Peter creates sculptures that, in his words, are either “rigid and mathematical or loose and sinuous.” Most of them are designed to be wall mounted; and to interact with the ever-changing light of their surrounding space. Sometimes his art is the light, as he creates lampshades made from paper.
Chrysanthemum Light by Peter Ayres
In 2025 the Grant Museum in Fitzrovia commissioned Ayres to make a large-scale paper sculpture inspired by wasp nests, in collaboration with UCL’s resident wasp expert Professor Seirian Sumner. “Very appropriate,” says Peter, “because wasps are the world’s original paper makers. By chewing wood fibres, mixing them with saliva, and layering the resulting pulp to dry, they make complex, intricate, beautiful structures.”
There’s a natural connection between Peter’s career in architecture, where design problems need to be solved, and the way that he approaches his paper sculptures. “I’m from the last generation to have made technical drawings in pencil. And nowadays with the oversaturation of flat images, it feels people value the tangible quality of 3D artworks more highly. My sculptures are hand-made, and I think the trace of the human hand is part of their charm. I love the exploratory nature of the work and forever finding new inspiration.”
Infinity sculpture
Ayres is currently Artist In Residence at St Barts Hospital’s historic North Wing, where his creative workshops encourage staff and visitors to connect with their environment. Of his narrative drawing classes, Peter explains, “when we draw diagrams, we can express tangled thoughts in a truthful, insightful and memorable way.” Drawing can also be a practical tool. For instance, hospital staff can explain surgical procedures to patients with newfound confidence to do quick sketches. In Peter’s drawing workshops for children and adults, held in places like the Design Museum or in people’s workplaces, the participants are constantly surprising themselves with their creative ability.
A workshop led by Peter at St Bart’s Hospital
On 25 June, Peter will have a table outside St Paul’s Cathedral for the event If Stone Could Speak. He’s amused that his creative corner will be adjacent to the stonemasonry workshop where they’ll be plenty of cutting and carving – whilst he’ll be showing people how to make initials from pieces of paper.
www.peterayres.com
Instagram: @peter_ayres
