Masayo Fukuda—known as “Kiriken Masayo”—has mastered the art of kirigami, or paper cutting, with about 30 years spent studying the intricate practice. The talented artist from Chiba Prefecture, Japan, first discovered her passion for paper cutouts when she was in high school, by cutting out a heart piece of paper.

A life-sized octopus, created on a single sheet of white A2 paper using an artist’s scalpel, is widely considered one of her best works. Thanks to Masayo’s attention to detail, each bulging eye, and every wavy tentacle appears to lift straight off the page.

“The point I was particular about was the depth and three-dimensionality of the overlapping legs,” Masayo said, referring to the paper-cut octopus she made in 2018. “I drew it over and over, looked at it from a distance, drew it, and redrew it again. It took about two months from the rough sketch to completion.

She has long been fascinated by marine life and its evolution and thus has been keen on sharing its beauty with others through her work.

“Many of my works are of marine life, birds, and other creatures,” she explained. While creating these realistic pieces of art, she said, she tends to be very particular about their eyes, as she is focused on making the viewer “feel the beauty and power of animals that do not have words.”