Origami Base Sculptures

I have always been drawn to the medium of paper. Cheap, accessible, versatile, and culturally relevant to my Japanese heritage. Origami in particular, the art of folding paper, is a craft that combines my love of geometry and art. As a personal exploration in representing folded forms, I created these pieces mimicking the “base patterns” of many traditional models. Known as the bird, frog, and fish bases, they are the preliminary, and thereby well rehearsed and memorized folds beginning a new piece.

From there I used the unfolded crease patterns to visualize them as forms in themselves. Choosing repeating shapes and turning them into 3-D paper models brought the 2-D pattern back into a tactile space.