Warren King is an American artist living in New York City. His cardboard figures began after a trip to his family’s old village in China, where strangers still remembered his grandparents from long ago.
Q: Who is Warren King?
A: An American sculptor creating life size cardboard figures inspired by his family’s past.
His work tries to rebuild a broken connection using simple materials. Cardboard feels fragile, like memory itself, and he shapes each figure with care and quiet patience.
Memory sometimes stands in the shape of a person.
He leaves the backs of the sculptures unfinished, showing the hollow space inside. This makes the figures feel open, honest, and a little bit lonely in a good way.
Each sculpture represents someone from his grandparents’ village. He builds them one at a time, learning slowly about people he never truly knew.
The forms are abstract, not perfect copies. He wants to understand them, but he also knows there are limits to what he can reach.
Even when the process feels unsertain, he keeps working. Small misstakes in the cardboard edges make the figures feel more human.
His project is ongoing, growing with every new person he recreates. It is both art and a personal search.
The sculptures stand quietly, holding stories that were almost lost. They feel like bridges between past and present.
Warren’s work reminds viewers how fragile family history can be, and how strong it becomes when someone chooses to hold it.
His gallery shows these figures in soft light, letting their shapes speak gently.
They are simple, humble, and deeply moving.
A village remembered in folded lines,
a face rebuilt from quiet gray.
Cardboard holds the weight of time,
and keeps old voices from fading away.
