Origami For Kids

Work in progress. (i.e., I haven’t ruined it yet.) The aim and method is the same: the minimization of lines; the exploration of the inherent softness there is in smooth paper surfaces joined by curves and open folds. I think in the end paper has more possibility for expressing tenderness, or at least receptivity, than even skin on flesh, nature’s original. But for that one needs to get away from the angularity of most origami. It’s been about a year since I’ve done anything new in this direction. I guess we all have stages where that keening high origami brings, fades of itself or is forcibly set aside. I have Joseph Wu to thank with his invitation to exhibit at Vancouver's Pendulum Gallery (in tandem with PCOC 2007) for getting me jump-started: What I sent him may have been older material, or things derived from older ideas, but the juices now seem to be flowing. I doubt that anything less than the knowledge that people like Joseph and Michael LaFosse and possibly Roman Diaz wil...

I was very glad to get Giang Dinh’s “Mother and Child” for the Tikotin show, and glad too, that by independent decision this image appears on the catalog’s front cover and on the invitation card. For it nicely represents the guiding thought of this show: that origami can sometimes be an art, as high as any of the traditional arts. Mere modesty & self-restraint keep me from saying there are even heights of artistic expression which origami can reach that are not possible in other media of sculpture. (Of course origami has its limitations too.) If one asks why that is, here—what makes this work art and great art at that—there are some obvious points to start with. Immediately noticeable are the clean modern lines, the long curves and fluid surfaces. Also the work has a manifest simplicity: while there are certainly areas where it is not easy to guess how the thing is folded, the bulk of it, and the main inversion at the bottom, is perfectly obvious and followable by the eye; there ar...

[Added 2011. Visitors from theequinest: Roman Diaz sent in these fantastic horses for the Tikotin exhibit, with sequence numbers stuck in each; I arranged them as best I could, chose the name "Wild Horses" for the whole installation, and took the photograph. Diagrams for Roman's Horse are in his book " Origami for Interpreters ". I dabble in this theme too, and you might like these equestrian figures , other origami horses (scroll to bottom) , or these Horse Heads .] Diagrams for my Horse may be found in my book, " Sculptural Origami ".] At the very last minute that it was possible before the Tikotin opening, Herman Mariano handed me this fine “Kiwi”, designed by Roman Diaz, that he had finished the night before. --At 81, Mariano shows no signs of slowing down. For this Kiwi he used a coloration technique that is new to him: applying dry pastel to the flat sheet, muffing it around with cotton then spraying on fixatif. (Paul Jackson has already bee...

Recovering slowly from the opening of the Tikotin show... According to the Museum’s final count, 594 people packed themselves into the exhibition halls in the two hours of the opening on mid-day Friday; I’m told they haven’t seen such crowds in many years. All of this initial success can be credited neither to the quality of the show (which no one knew about beforehand) nor to the publicity (which was pretty slight). Rather there must be a great pent-up curiosity in the public about origami. Now however that the exhibit's been seen I expect the numbers only to climb as word of mouth spreads. The dignitaries came too, of course, and warmly congratulated each other. I was moved however to hear Tikotin's daughter Ilana tell about that funny little man, Yoshizawa, who would come to their home in Japan, and who would never stop folding. The night before the opening I went round & counted how many discrete objects there were (a herd of horses counts as six objects, a work of modu...

I've been enormously busy with this show, the opening is the day after tomorrow... But I have to say it looks magnificent. Here are just a few "teaser shots". --More to come Saadya Exterior with "cranes" Main display case--Elephant at center is Yoshizawa's Joel Cooper's "Cyrus" Y penguins from the 1930s Roman Diaz' "Wild Horses" View of Haifa Bay from promenade back of Museum

This camel is on display now at the Knesset, to help Israel's parliamentarians think this week as they mull over conditions for its Bedouin population. Saadya

Designed 1987; new treatment for the head--last night. S.