Sumi the crocodile is an exciting new commission for Dulwich Picture Gallery by Japanese paper-cut artist Nahoko Kojima. Kojima's eight-metre-long crocodile, cut entirely from one sheet of paper, will hang suspended from the Gallery's entrance hall - a visual spectacle for all to admire. Championing the power of paper as a creative medium, Nahoko Kojima’s previous works include Cloud Leopard (2012), Byaku (2013), a swimming polar bear, and Shiro (2018), a life-sized blue whale. She is a key protagonist of the paper cut sculpture movement, renowned for turning majestic animals into works of art and questioning our relationship to nature.

“This incredibly resilient animal arose well before us and has outlived the dinosaurs by some 65 million years. Humans have destroyed many animals, yet every one of the 23 species of crocodile exists today. My work is about a timeless beauty and a celebration of nature.” Nahoko Kojima on Sumi