1207: Michelangelo’s “Pieta”

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I am not sure about you, but I cannot imagine the amount of talent packed into a 24 year old Michelangelo when he carved a single block of marble into the breathtaking statue that is “Madonna della Pietà” now housed in the Vatican, Rome.

I know when we visited on holiday in the mid 2010’s I stood transfixed, finding it unbelievable that it was the work of human hands. Few bits of stone are so alive, none convey so viscerally the crushing grief of a mother cradling her murdered son. Many controversaries surrounded the artwork when it was created – the Church wanted to know why the Mother looked younger than the son, many thought the pose too confronting. It is impossible to view the work and not be moved. Pictures do not seem to do it justice.

I stumbled across some re-drawn fold schemes of a very old box pleating model by Neal Elias – designed back in 1979, this proto-box pleating model is a representation of 2 human figures, one cradling the other – he named it “Michelangelo’s Pieta”:

Determined to source the original diagrams, I learned that they were published in a long since unavailable publication “Origami Without Borders QQM4” and later released in a massive collected work anthology called “The Origami World of Neal Elias
by Dave Venables and Marc Cooman” – an astonishing collection of over 1000 designs by Elias and his contemporaries in the 60’s and 70’s, the birth of modern origami. I am determined to acquire a copy if I can.

The premise of the model is simple: on a single duo sheet of paper, use one side to form Mary, the other to fold Jesus, and articulate the two figures so one can lounge on the other. In today’s terms this is challenging but entirely designable via stick figure analysis and use of one of many BP design tools (like Oriedita or BoxPleat Studio). Back in the 1970’s this was completely revolutionary – verging on witchcraft.

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1206: Kade Chan’s Frost Dragon (Wyvern)

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I was experimenting with some damp Wenzhou paper while at the monthly Papermakers meeting, and decided to spritz it with blue, then green and finally black acrylic ink. Because the paper was damp, these patches of sprayed pigment wicked together in delightfully soft and cloudy ways.

After methyl cellulose treating the sheet, I decided I needed a dragon to fold it into, so thought of Kade Chan’s most recently published diagram – Frost Dragon.

Now the purists among you will notice this beastie has hind legs, and claws at the apex of each wing – technically this makes this a Wyvern as opposed to a Dragon proper, but the world of “western” dragons is confused at best so I will move on.

The paper was 45cm square, in retrospect I could have thrown a more complicated dragon at it, but I did not want to risk wasting the beautiful paper – that said I wanted to fold a model I had not yet folded (hence the blog number 1206). Kade Chan, as a designer, creates fairly simple models, but they are fun to fold so I thought “Why not?”

I have folded his earlier dragons and, at the time, thought they were pretty “dragony”, but this design, like his earlier designs, feels a little clunky in proportion and level of detail. The wings on this Frost Dragon are lovely, the feet are nice and complicated and the claws remind me of his Werewolf claws. The body and tail are (at least on the diagram) fairly basic – I decided to texture them up a bit, adding pleats into the tail and some extra layering through the body.

The fold sequence, detailed in the book “New Generation of Origami”, curated by Makoto Yamaguchi, is pretty straight forward, the only really challenging stage is the teasing out of the toes on the legs – this is however, almost a carbon copy of ancient dragon toes so familiar to me.

The difficulty photographing such models made out of dark paper is … well … they do not look very impressive in the photos. I am part of an origami community that gives “likes” to beautiful looking models (sometimes over complex, well folded but poorly photographed ones) so I am in no doubt there will be passing interest there, but I do like how the paper elevates the model, the variegation adds interest and texture to the layers.

I had forgotten how wonderful it is to fold with nice thin tough paper – I have a huge roll of Wenzhou but have barely used any of it – I must change that now i have a colouring method I can control and whose results I love.

1205: Blooming Bow

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Having international connections with folders continues to be a gift. Connecting via my Instagram account, I was approached by a new Kusudama designer Syed Faraz approached me regarding his new design “Blooming Bow”:

He asked if I could diagram it for him. I insisted on folding it first.

In folding it, I got a better appreciation for the steps (from a rough photo diagram sequence), and helped me refine the shape of the unit, capturing more accurately the sequence.

This kusudama is of the “curler” variety – it differs from others in that rather than a tab-pocket unit connection it relies on the interlinking of paper curls.

I have folded a couple of “curlers” and note that construction is generally more difficult – the units tenuously interlock until you “triangulate” and they stabilise. Getting the curl right is really important – the centre of the kusudama gets very dense as you add more 5-3 groups.

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1204: Basket Case

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Before Covid hit back in 2020, I had bought a slew of origami books, determined to work through them. One of them – “Origami Tessellations” by Eric Gjerde is one such volume that I barely scratched at the time. There is much richness to explore there, including this beauty:

This is “Basket Weave”, designed by Eric Gjerde. Folded from a 750x500mm rectangle of Kraft paper, on a fine triangle grid over the last few days.

The geometry here is mesmerising – the entire field used only 2 twists, alternating: Open Hexagon twists that rotate counter-clockwise and Closed Triangle twists rotating clockwise. The alternating rotations absorb the intersection conflicts but the folding is so dense (ie. these twists overlap) making the collapse an exercise in patience and perseverance indeed.

I struggled to find a regular rhythm when collapsing this tessellation – each molecule caused deep and awkward pleat overlaps and I could not devise wraps that would make them any less awkward. Working simultaneously on multiple molecules seemed easier as I did not bury so many axial creases while getting it to fold flat. The margins continued to be tangled.

I decided to pre-crease the open hexagons because I could derive the spacing accurately, reasoning that the triangle twists were the glue that set the hexagons in place – this I think saved me making some major blunders in collapsing, although I did notice a few times where the triangles twisted in the wrong direction making surrounding areas clash.

I am looking for a weave that I can fold VERY small, perhaps to make a lampshade of similar decorative inlay. I am not sure this is it as I am not sure i could physically fold this one much smaller without a lot more MUSH. This sheet ended up having pleats about 1cm wide – pleat width determines the size of the weave. My fat clumsy fingers would have struggled to navigate and collapse a smaller grid with this crease pattern.

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1203: Artist Book

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It is common for paper artists to “bind” their artworks into “artist books” – a broad display category that ranges from purely decorative through linear narrative forms, and everything in-between. Having recently made a linear design using cyanotype, inks and paint, it occurred to me that a book-like thing might be a fun way to display it.

Traditional “artist books”, in my observation at least, involve cutting, gluing, sometimes stitching and binding. I wondered if something could be achieved using FOLDS alone.

One “type” of artist book that I know of is a thing called a “Concertina Book”, sometimes including cut and folded “extrusions” which elevate parts of the page. I figured something like this should be possible using folding techniques, so took a scrap of paper and began a fold doodle with a simple fan fold.

Using a pair of pleats running across the fan fold gives me pleat overlaps that can then become “gussets” that then force layers up and off the resting surface in interesting ways. This makes “extrusions” that change the dimensionality of the shape.

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1202: Pineapple Tessellation

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At the beginning of the pandemic, I bought myself a copy of Ilan Garibi’s wonderful book “Origami Tessellations for Everyone”, but looking through recently I realised I had not folded many of the wonderful designs before, so set about remedying that:

This is a SINGLE molecule of the “pineapple” tessellation. After a simple set of diagonal pre-creases are imposed on a square grid, the first level collapse is really satisfying. You then have to perform a transformation (essentially turning part of the previously collapsed part inside to create the final structure.

You can then inside reverse the “scales” and you have a lovely form that resembles the body of a pineapple, kind of. The molecule tiles a number of ways – given it lies on the diagonal, you can either tile them in X or O formation – I chose to do a 4-molecule O form, just to see how difficult it was dealing with the interactions, but it turned out fairly easily.

By spacing the molecules correctly, and arranging them in an X you can create a rather lovely “Dish” that is dimensional, stands freely, has a satisfying volume and most importantly gives you free paper to shape pineapple “tops” to act as legs.

It was a fun fold, particularly if you accurately place the pre-creases, and get them in the right orientation (mountain/valley) before you attempt the first collapse. It is a terrific addition to the “what can I do with a square grid” pile.

I must explore more, Ilan’s work is well described, challenging but fun to fold.

1201: Corrugated Tubiform Trefoil Knot

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The internet (in this case Instagram) sometimes delivers to you by pure chance (or deliberate algorithm) inspiration that is timely:

A recent work (a square-tube based mobius strip) by Henk van der Vorst sparked a curiosity that led me to damaging a few A0 sheets of Kraft paper to explore a tubiform corrugation, and then work out something to do with it.

There is something interesting (for me, recently) in corrugations, and Henk’s work uses simple right-angle hinges, first documented by Paul Jackson, to use a large-scale fanfold without the tiresome necessity of reversing sections of the crease, and allowing you to curve that fanfold onto itself in an interesting way.

I discovered I could hinge on proportions of 6 and 3, making rectangular tubes that articulate and bend in very interesting (the kids would call it “satisfying”) ways.

I fashioned a bunch of different sizes to test the proportions and see just how small I could fold it reliably and accurately. On the large test folds I glued the seam – not sure why, but as I got smaller, the seam just seemed to keep itself shut and become invisible – especially when the tube was twisted.

A Trefoil knot is historically interesting – it is like a set of interwoven mobius strips, and originally was associated with the “Holy Trinity” : the Father, the Son, and the holy GOAT, or something similar. Renditions of it exist in historic engravings, statuary, heraldic depictions – even common images like the Girl Guide logo/symbol … thing.

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1200: Road To Nowhere

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I have this image in my head, of a petty little orange man, walking in circles because he has not realised he in on a flight of M.C. Escher’s stairs:

Oddly … this abstract concept is not that far from what the petty little orange man is actually doing (but, I do not really understand the lure of a golden ballroom), but I digress.

I first saw this model on John McKeever’s Flickr, and think it is a Fujimoto-style set of Escher steps, but the etymology of the model is less clear as it seems to be a variation on a clover-like tessellation, but is deliciously evil in it’s convoluted crease pattern.

I decided I had to try it, but really struggled to understand what the actual floop was going on with the crease pattern – it seemed like the prescribed creases could not co-exist. Naturally I turned to an old trick – I folded a maquette:

After a few days of twiddling with printer paper CP copies until they disintegrated, I finally found a collapse sequence that … somehow … sorted itself out by repeatedly bending back on itself. The real trick was working out which vertices go up and which go down – when you sort that out it is still counter-intuitive … until it isn’t.

I started with a 55cm square of Kraft, using a pencil I divided it into 12th, then trimmed 1 unit off 2 adjacent sides to reduce the grid to 11×11. I then used a stylus to place all the of the pre-creases, ensuring I oriented them mountain/valley as indicated. I was soooo chuffed at how CLEAN the pre-creases were, knowing how important it was to NOT mark some faces that would be solid squares in the final model.

I then had to walk away from it, as pleased as I was with the eventual success on maquettes, committing it to the actual fold is a step that made me oddly nervous.

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Torus

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When gifted a Larson a Day tear off calendar (thanks Matt), I was faced with a problem – each tear off day is a perfect square and there are 365 of them (for the year), and … I obsessively fold paper so naturally:

This is a 360 unit modular, based on Tom Hull’s Phizz unit – sort of origami lego.

The construction relies on inherent curvature of clusters of units. If you link 6 into a hexagon, the resultant shape is flat. Less than 6 units and the structure curves into a bump (ie. positive curvature), and groups of 7 or more negatively curve (like a saddle).

The basic structure is an inner strip of 6s, either side is a strip of 7s – this then forms the middle of the donut. A strip of 6s, then a strip of 5s to outcurve and then a strip of 6s to close – sounds more complicated than it is, but boy is it fiddly. Docking 3 phizz units together requires interleaving layers over a bend – when there is nothing else in the way it is simple, when there is lots surrounding it then it becomes very difficult, particularly when you cannot reach both sides of the join in the later stages of lacing it up.

The result is lovely, the geometry draws the eye. This used up what will be 1/4 of the total sheets torn off for the year – whether I keep going is up in the air at the moment – long term projects are fun so we shall see.

1199: Get Knotted

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As a paper folder, when someone tells you to “get knotted” … you have “options” – right?

I was playing around with offcuts – those inevitable slivers of paper you cleave off a sheet as you are squaring them and an idea struck.

I keep all my off-cuts, particularly those off beautiful papers – you never know when you might need some colour/texture. In the past I have added them to my paper pulp to add “thread-like” inclusions, and sandwiched them in-between translucent layers of wenzhou in paper mache sculptures etc.

I wanted to do something more “origami” oriented … so I tied a knot in a thin strip, and remembered that a flat knot resolves into a perfect (all things aligned and taut) pentagonal knot. If you string a few knots along the length then the strip does some pretty sculptural zig-zagging. I found I could decide the direction of the zig/zag by how I tied the knot, and that I could “graft” other strips on by simply knotting them there and hiding the extra end inside the graft knot.

I played around with Kraft paper strips to get my bearings, then added coloured accent strips of Hanji (purple, and green with acrylic ink spatter) and Kozo (red dry brushed with gold), knotted to intertwine like tendrils of an invasive weed. The original composition had a bunch more colours, but as I kept coming back to it, simpler seemed better so I gradually removed down to what you see here now. Initially I photographed it resting atop a sheet of my hand-made Kozo tissue because it looks classier like that. Should i ever decide to show/frame it I would prolly do the same. The geometry and composition is pleasing to me none the less.

It reminds me a little of the bold linework of Joan Miró, or the architectural geometry of Piet Mondrian, the fiddly intricate linework of Wassily Kandinsky, or the delicious geometry of Alexander Calder. We can all aspire to greatness I guess.

Origami “purists” will probably look down their noses at this because it is not folded from a square, contains multiple pieces and used some glue under each knot to anchor it to a sheet of olive Canson Mi-Teintes. That sort of folder snob can go get knotted 😛

1198: Shuriken Trunk

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I seem drawn to corrugations lately – there is something cathartic about folding such geometry, and this one, designed by Boice Wong is very satisfying to play with:

Although the CP and demo from Boice is based on a 24 gridded square, it is possible to expand the pattern infinitely on the long axis – I decided to try it as a 2:1 rectangle and found it fairly easy to fold accurately. The collapse, although a little more exhaustive, is none the less straightforward.

This corrugation is a self-sealing “tube-like” construction that folds back on itself – I think there is a more positive lock possible, but this works fine. The base structure is a crenellated plus (+) sign, that you then shape the arms using a series of inside reverse folds.

Once collapsed, and flexed a little, it becomes deliciously bendy – you can transform it in a variety of ways, twist it tightly and then it collapses back into a compact stack form – what fun.

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1197: Java Sparrow

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The Java Sparrow is a type of Finch, and is characterised by some very brightly coloured but well confined patches of colour. It represents a challenge for an origami purist because it typically needs 4 colours, and paper is usually (at most) duo colour:

The approach of this model, like a few in Kyohei Katsuta’s repertoire, is to use multiple (in this case 2) sheets of paper folded in together to give you access to the double colour pallet.

You know that feeling you have seen something before – I get it in origami a lot. I was sure I had seen a “Java Sparrow” before, and was sure it was in a Robert Harbin book from my youth, turns out the one I actually remembered was in an equally old book I had as a kid (and still own) “Origami” by Toyoaki Kawai which I remember clearly used a colour change “cheat” that involved colouring in parts of the square strategically with colours that would be presentation areas in the final fold. This “technique” is currently called “Kimiroing” because a modern designer (Kimiro) uses little laminated (or sometimes painted) colour patches to achieve tightly controlled colour change in some of his models sometimes.

I searched my stash for suitable paper and settled on blue/black thick Shadow Thai, and orange/white Yukogami, cut 25cm squares of each and then set about nursing the thick papers through a lovely but precise sequence.

Although uniaxial (bi-symmetrical along a long axis), the shaping ensures the model does not spread open like so many in that ilk. The legs are really fine – a little too thin to support the model weight, but I will probably mount it on a wire armature to fix that. The sequence lets you use quite thick paper while still managing the layer build-up well. Even though I struggled to get a square of Yukogami that was actually square because of the rough texture, the results of the mixed paper types give the model the illusion of a fluffy tummy, scaly feet and smooth flight feathers.

I really love the result, and think it a good display model for my next cabinet exhibition.

1196: Basset Hound

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Mum loved Basset hounds, we had a Purebred “Rebecca”, who we had paired with another purebread, and kept one of the resulting pups also (“Cleo”).

Bassets are very intelligent, loyal and lovely pets, but I remember Rebecca had a wicked sense of humour – she used to specialise in sneaking up behind you and unleashing a single deeeeep bark from hell, just because the human reaction amused her. Rebecca was a tri-colour (black, tan, white), whereas Cleo was a bi-colour (tan and white).

Their body shape is distinct, and this origami design captures the actual dog morphology really well (prolly the best I have seen, and I have looked long and hard for suitable basset models to fold). Their stocky body, large shoulders, ridiculous amount of extra loose skin, pendulous ears and face that is south of where it needs to be make them quite adorable.

Mum misses “the girls”, so I folded her a pair – this one, designed by David Illescas, along with Lee Jae Gu’s. I used the same size paper and they really look good together – a nice memento for her to remember her favourite pets.

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1195: Third Wave

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I have been enjoying exploring curved folds recently and an idea came to me:

I designed 3 complimentary “wavy” line patterns using Affinity Designer. They were designed on A4 and A5 templates. I printed them out and used them as score templates for pieces of 180gsm watercolour paper.

Hand-scoring curves is fraught with non-smoothness moments, but the watercolour paper was forgiving enough that, when laying in the creases, I was able to round out the little lumpy bits.

This is a Triptych – the 3 panels relate to each other, and could be smaller sections of a larger rippling mill pond.

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1194: 3 Gyroelongated Square Dipyramids

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Just trying to get my head and mouth around the name of this geometric modular provided the imperative to fold it:

Designed by Daniel Kwan, it is based around Francis Ow’s 60 degree unit, folded on a 4:1 rectangle that then has 30 degree crimps placed at thirds down the length of the paper, on opposite ends. The resulting units seem to spiral.

Units are joined in groups of 4, making a single solid descriptively called a “Gyroelongated square dipyramid” – “gyroelongated” meaning it is an extruded and twisted solid, “Dipyramid” because there is a regular square-based pyramid at each end of the solid.

Daniel illustrated they could be interwoven – 3 can be symmetrically interwined to make a visually startling whole.

The hardest part of this model was working out the symmetry of the intertwining. Merely seeing a finished one was not enough, you need to discover the scheme that, symmetrically, distributes spokes of each sold over and under, taking into account the twist, yet still meet at a pyramidal end WITHOUT overly distorting the units.

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