We are Katy and Jorge, genuine Canarian islanders. We know islands and we love islands. Not only have we lived most of our lives on an island, but we are truly fascinated by islands large and small, near and far. And if you, like us, are an islander at heart, you know what it does to your psyche and to your soul: the constant search for the shoreline and the endless sea beyond, the indelible imprint of the home island’s shape in your mind, the feeling of connectedness with the ocean, the longing to return to it when you have been away (we should know: early on
we both went our separate ways to live and work in the UK and the USA respectively…only to find our way back to Gran Canaria a few years later to set on a joint course of various entrepreneurial projects).

There is something aesthetically pleasing and special to a piece of land that is entirely surrounded by water too: the completeness of the form, its compactness, the defiance of occupying a space that belongs to the liquid mass, the isolation that separates but protects, the stark and unmistakable definition of the physical boundaries… This all induces a mental state that becomes also a powerful source of inspiration to us islanders. An inspiration that permeates our creative process however it is channeled, driving our quest for meaning and beauty, shaping our understanding of the world.

Add to it that we both love working with paper too. And the visual arts. And handcraft and geographical information systems. So, in our search for the next joint project, it was no accident that we would frequently find ourselves playing with island-inspired concepts that combined all these elements together, finally arriving at the elevation contour level proposal after many discussions and several shared meals – which we enjoyed enormously anyway.

We knew that we had to come up with a unique offering that, in its austere simplicity, would be as elegant as realistic-looking due to our rigorous adherence to real world digital elevation data during the design process. We wanted to make the islands easily recognizable, while dispensing with the colors and the abundance of detail that are the hallmarks of other producers. We knew that less could be more, and thus strived to craft a visually appealing product that could also serve as – why not – a spiritual companion.

After cutting and building our first island this way, we simply fell in love with the stunning result and we knew that there was no turning back for us, that we had to go on depicting the world’s most celebrated islands layer by layer for our fellow island-lovers to behold.

We are truly excited to bring you these artistic paper creations as a means to share our passion for islands and to help you to appreciate the beautiful topography of these amazing chunks of land that often serve as physical and cultural steppingstones between continents. They have been crafted with the islander inside of you in mind, so let them inspire and guide you to your next island destination. Take it from two islanders.