Gorgeously Intricate & Hand-Crafted Pop-Up Books by Bozka

I’ve always been fascinated by the construction and engineering that goes into pop-up and accordion-fold books. So, when I saw Bozena Rydlewska’s (AKA Bozka) beautiful illustrations in a 3D form, I was wowed by their beauty and detail.

I had the opportunity to ask Bozka a couple of questions about her work. She’s loved pop-up books since childhood and had always wanted to make one.

“When I finished my series of illustrations New Botany [above], I thought it would be interesting to interpret the illustrations into three-dimensional forms,” she tells me. “At that point I was really tired of working non-stop on the computer and eager to do something with my hands.”

To make her pop-up books, she did some research. Bozka read several manuals and also attended a week-long pop-up book course at West Dean College in England. Um, I want to take one of those. Sign me up!

So, how long did it take to create these pieces? “It took me 3 to 4 weeks to make each pop-up. It was a complicated and time consuming process – I was working on 1:1 scale models, cutting and gluing over and over again until the pop-up matched the vision I had in my head,” she explains. “The final pieces were printed on high quality archival paper, cut out by cutting plotter and assembled by hand by myself. The assembly of the most complicated pop-up took 14 hours.”

Totally worth the time spent. They’re beautiful!