You often here many lamenting the death of newspapers, but Japanese artist Chie Hitotsuyama is finding a lot of artistic life in them. The 34 year old from Shizuoka prefecture crafts beautifully detailed and stunning animal sculptures from tightly rolling newspapers.

She puts a lot of meticulous effort into bringing these animal wonders to life, telling Kokusai Pulp and Paper, “I change the thickness of those paper strips according to the body parts...creating a red monkey face starts with looking for paper with red print in a huge volume of newspapers...twisting such pages, I’m aiming to achieve expressions of color, including gradations.”

Hitotsuyama's artistic influence may be traced back to her hometown of Fuji city, which is known for its number of high quality paper manufacturing companies, and her family that operates a paper strip-making plant.

A somber rhino, finely detailed Japanese macaques, and other impressive structures can be seen at Hitotsuyama Studio. Here are some examples of her wonderful work, including a short documentary.

Watch this short documentary clip to learn more.