Zim & Zou — Lucie Thomas, Thibault Zimmermann — Dordogne, France

What is the most challenging part of working on window-display design? “Creating big sculptures. Usually, paper art is more about crafting ‘small’ objects due to the fragility of this material. But since we need to fill all the space of the shop windows, we have to work on bigger elements. We have to think about internal structures to support the size and weight of paper, and they must all be invisible. We do all our installation in our studio in France, and then the elements are shipped around the world. You can't imagine what a relief it is when all the pieces have been shipped and received in perfect shape! That’s part of what makes it so exciting!”

Zim & Zou are two French artists, based in Dordogne, France. The duo is composed of Lucie Thomas, born in the Vosges in 1987, and Thibault Zimmermann, born in Paris in 1986. They studied graphic design for three years before deciding to focus on installations using hand-crafted objects made out of tangible materials such as paper, wood, thread, etc. Anchored in craftsmanship, they create all the elements composing their installations by hand, from drawing to cutting and assembling. Paper inspires them for its versatility, infinite range of colours and unique textures.