paper

explorations of folding media

1207: Michelangelo’s “Pieta”

| wonko

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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1205: Blooming Bow

| wonko

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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1203: Artist Book

| wonko

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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1199: Get Knotted

| wonko

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 😛

1197: Java Sparrow

| wonko

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

| wonko

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

| wonko

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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1191: Non-Euclidean Tttttsuru

| wonko

I have been playing with approximations of non-euclidean based geometric representations of “squares” – those shapes that have 90 degree corners. In curved space that geometry gets seriously weird, really quickly.

I operated on some standard Kami to create shapes that had 90 degree corners, but to my surprise, I managed a 2,3,5,6 and 8-sided “square”, depending on the size of the “plug” I grafted into the square.

I could then form “square bases” with these sheets – the preliminary fold is the base for many designs. Interestingly, the number of points a sheet has when put into a preliminary base is governed by the number of sides the sheet has.

Working on the 8-sided square, I then went about folding a traditional crane (Tsuru), and noticed I ended up with a surplus of appendages. With some re-arrangement I was able to return some of the classic vibe to the rear of the crane, but that resulted in 5 heads.

I have seen similar (like up to 3 I think) multi-headed cranes designed from conventional 4-sided squares, but the model efficiency is usually terrible because the point-splitting methods necessarily reduce the size of the final model exponentially.

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Hana Midoh (Sweet Shower House for Celebration Buddha Just Born)

| wonko

Ages ago, using up the white papers from a cheapo pack of coloured 15cm square origami papers, I first had a go at folding an origami “Spirit House”:

Designed by Ichiro Kinoshita, this model emerged from my “to fold” pile and it was meant to be.

I had not long returned from a trip to Japan (in the late nineties), and fell in love with the idea of having a Spirit House at our front door. Apparently it is a tradition to provide a home for good spirits – they then repel bad spirits. We have had our “spirit house” for decades, I love it.

I decided it was time to fold a better version of the rough first go, so turned to my stash of hand-made Kozo and cotton paper I had made from pulp back in October 2024 – it has a “stone-like” appearance so I thought it would be perfect.

I cut 3 18x18cm squares and a 20cm square, then set about folding the parts (it is sort of a modular, 2 parts of which need to be glued together). The paper is fairly thick and fabric-like, but takes folds fairly well. I used some strategic glue spots to keep seams closed, wrestled a little with the thickness but was happy with the results in the end.

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1189: Chook

| wonko

As often happens, I was approached by a mate to fold a model for him (MJ) – he wanted a “Chook” for a surprise gift for his wife (Nikki) on her birthday. I love a challenge, so began looking for the best origami chook.

Turns out there are LOTS of roosters out there, but relatively few hens that looks like hens – I wanted feathers, volume and a playful but realistic chookiness and found in Makoto Yamaguchi’s beautiful book “Transcendent Origami”, a chicken designed by Kyohei Katsuta that I knew I needed to fold because it was perfect.

After doing a test fold, it became apparent that it was a 2-part model (top half has the rings and tail, comb and wattle) and the bottom half has the legs, beak and fluffy bum. It is a colour change model so with some careful “Kimiroing” I was able to use 2 sheets of glorious black spattered Shadow Thai (from origami-shop.com) that has Rorschach-like inkblots on one side, black mulberry on the back. The black was perfect for feet and beak. I laminated some red Kozo in the spot that would become the comb and wattle and I was away.

From my test fold, I was able to guestimate the paper size to make the chook more or less life-size – well, more of a bantam, but large enough for my purposes.

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1185: Bodo Haag’s Giraffe

| wonko

A model that has been on my “must fold” list for ages is the best origami Giraffe there is, designed by Bodo Haag:

After test-folding this model with a 90cm sheet, I decided to get closer to the recommended 50cm square by using a 70cm square of duo Kraft paper (part of my last roll of Ikea black/natural stash).

Some designers combine brilliant design with delightful fold sequence and this model has both. It is challenging, but entirely followable – some amazing moves strategically position the edge of the sheet towards the centre of the pleat bundle that will become the neck, body and legs – this affords an intricate set of edge-crinkle colour changed for the spots – just so clever.

The paper was a little thick, but I persisted and managed to complete the shaping pretty well. The long spindly legs needed help, so I added wires to allow it to stand on a base, I posed the legs so there was a slightly irregular stance.

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Bone Dragon

| wonko

This is my presentation fold of 1ctzH8jmON2’s Delicious “Bone Dragon”.

The CP and photodiagram guide for shaping appears in Orifancy6 (my late Halloweeny post).

Folded from a 65cm square of grey Unryushi with black, grey and white accent fibers.

grok.com made this AI animation of the fold – not quite sure how I feel about it but there you go:

I love this model – to mee if feeeels like a proper dragon. It has a wire armature, allowing it to free-stand and it can also be posed. 65cm is quite small (for me) for this model, due to layer build up, but from it’s many horned head thru its lovely rib cage to the tip of it’s tail it was lot of fun to figure out.

1184: Walking in the Rain

| wonko

One of the many models I have had on my “to fold” pile for ages is Chen Xiao’s “Walking in the Rain”:

This box-pleated model seems to have taken me an age to complete for many reasons (including what I consider a weakness of box pleating), but finally I committed a square of pre-prepared Wenzhou paper to a rendering of this design.

The paper was previously Eco Dyed: Sandwiched between each layer of the folded up sheet was various vegetative matter – onion skins, tea leaves and other tannin-based plants. This bundle was boiled for a few hours in a “dirty pot” containing red cabbage and purple carrots. The cooled bundle was then carefully washed to remove all the bits of vegetation leaving subtle stains. This paper I called “Cherry Blossom” Wenzhou because the dappled pinks and muted browns reminded me of blossom trees.

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1181: Kozo Koi Carp

| wonko

One of the privileges of being on the edit team for Origami Shop is that I get to see new designs before they are in the wild:

Part of the edit process, often, is test folding the model. I do not need to do this, usually, because there is also a team of test-folders, but I like to check the instructions and how they work – it can inform better diagrams.

I have a recent stash of hand made (from plant to sheet) Kozo tissue I was itching to try on a fold.

This Koi Carp, designed by Yery J. Astroña, will be part of a forthcoming book – it is a 182 step sequence, so I thought (rather naively) … why not?

I had no idea how the paper would take folds – there are 3 pages of pre-creasing before collapse, but I figure I would fold until I finish or it failed – either outcome I can learn from.

To my delight, my paper (a 28cm square liberated from an A3 deckle-edged sheet) was completely stable – no sign of fatigue at the end. It takes creases pretty well, reverses those creases nice and accurately. It is crisp, thiiiiin, and softer than Kami, but I found it completely foldable. It wet-shapes beautifully – very satisfying experience indeed.

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Catching Clouds – Making Kozo Tissue

| wonko

Last PAQ meeting I had the privilege of running the group’s Hollander Beater, processing my most recently cooked and cleaned paper mulberry pulp. In the past I have hand-beaten it, but was determined to give the mechanised processing a try (to see if I could).

The pulp floofed up into delicious clouds of softly frayed pulp after a few hours circulating in the beater. I took the beaten pulp home, rinsed it a couple of times and then pressed it into pulp storage sheets. I ladled 3 x 2L scoops of pulp into my old A3 mould and deckle, smoothing it off with my hands, then added them to my press, couching between. The batch made 6 such sheets.

After pressing, these pulp sheets were set to dry over the next week – when dry they are storage stash stable.

For the tissue session, I re-hydrated one of these sheets in a tall bucket, tearing it up until it was finely shredded. I then agitated it with my electric drill and a paint-stirrer attachment until it was separate and fluffy again. I brought the bucket of pulp and most of my sheet forming equipment to the PAQ meeting last Sunday and set up a bit of a production line.

I have a large vat (so I can easily move my A3 frame in it), and half-filled it with water. Then added 2 scoops of pulp to the water in the vat, along with half a bottle (about 100ml) of pre-prepared Methyl Cellulose (MC) gel and about 200ml of strained Okra mucilage. The MC was to act as an internal size for the paper (to help with the strength and crispness). The Okra mucilage acted as a suspension aid to keep the pulp from quickly sinking to the bottom of the vat.

After a thorough mix to fluff up and evenly distribute the relatively sparce pulp in the water, I was able to pull sheets by catching the “clouds” that so delicately hung in the water.

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