Cut Arts

Introduction: Karl Johnson is regarded as America’s leader in silhouette artistry. For most of his life, he has been practicing this exceptionally rare art having learned this unique ability as a young boy from his father who had earlier been taught by a long time family friend for many years. Karl took to this unusual art form extremely well. This he attributes partly to having vision in only one eye, being born able only to see from his right eye. Deprived of binocular vision, Karl was forced to estimate the shape and distance of objects by examining its shadow. This allows him to capture an image in shadow in an uncanny way. Karl's work hangs in the homes of many Hollywood figures. Most recently, he was commissioned by Marc Anthony to craft silhouettes of Jennifer Lopez for her 40th birthday party. He was also present at the party to cut silhouettes for the guests. A number of national publications have featured his work including InStyle, People StyleWatch, Martha Stewart Wedding, Elle Décor, Parenting Magazine, Elegant Bride Magazine, USA Today, Country Home Magazine, Traditional Home Magazine, Romantic Home and Nickelodean Magazine, Domino Magazine, and Ladies Home Journal. Karl was commissioned to make a several life size silhouette portraits which were featured in the Kip's Bay Designer Show house in NYC. You can also see Karl's work on several tv shows & movies. All of the silhouette portraits displayed in the silhouette studio on Main Street of the new Hong Kong Disney Park are all Karl’s creations. He has been working with a lot of design firms to produce specialty silhouette pieces for many special clients around the world.