Extraordinary Origami: 20 Projects from Contemporary North American Masters

© 2018 Snake SA, Chemin du Tsan du Péri 10, 3971 Chermignon, Switzerland

Extraordinary Origami is an original work, first published in North America in 2018 by Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc., 903 Square Street, Mount Joy, PA 17552. Reproduction of its contents is strictly prohibited without written permission from the rights holder.

Used under license. All rights reserved.

Print ISBN 978-1-56523-949-4

eISBN 9781607655404

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kirschenbaum, Marc, editor.

Title: Extraordinary origami / edited by Marc Kirschenbaum.

Other titles: Origami grandi maestri americani

Description: Mount Joy : Fox Chapel Publishing, [2018] | Translation of:

   Origami grandi maestri americani.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018028297 | ISBN 9781565239494 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Origami. | Paper work.

Classification: LCC TT872.5 .O75 2018 | DDC 736/.982--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018028297

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Credits

Text and diagrams

Photography

Araldo De Luca

Video

Marc Kirschenbaum

This book would not have been possible without the contributions of the artists involved. Everyone was able to contribute stunning examples of their work.

Hideo Komatsu provided the excellent illustrations for the pieces by Peter Engel.

Some of the artists are deceased, so valuable assistance was provided by the following people to aid with permissions and sourcing materials: Mick Guy, JC Nolan, Sam Randlett, Laura Rozenberg, David Shall, and Dave Venables.

Contents

Introduction

Symbols and Terminology

Types of Folds

Arrows

Techniques

Swan Couple Card

Sy Chen Illustration

Doghouse

Patricia Crawford Illustration

Harlequin

Neal Elias Illustration

Christmas Tree

Peter Engel Illustration

Santa Claus

Peter Engel Illustration

Dragon Slayer

Paul Frasco Illustration

Convertible Bag

Gay Merrill Gross Illustration

Frog

Beth Johnson Illustration

Bee

Marc Kirschenbaum Illustration

Tiger

Jason Ku Illustration

A Butterfly for Reiko Tuttle

Michael LaFosse Illustration

Red-Winged Blackbird

Robert J. Lang Illustration

Cardinal

Robert J. Lang Illustration

Mother and Child

Bob Neale Illustration

Giant Panda

Bernie Peyton Illustration

Bald Eagle

Fred Rohm Illustration

Time Flies

Jeremy Shafer Illustration

Luv Bug

John Szinger Illustration

Monk

Stephen Weiss Illustration

Shamrock/Four-Leaf Clover

Wensdy Whitehead Illustration

Introduction

America might conjure up things like baseball and apple pie, but origami? Yes, it is true that decorative paper folding has roots in Japan, but as an art form origami grew rapidly in the West. The USA in particular was a catalyst for the exchange of origami ideas and development, and is the home of some of the most prominent origami masters in the world. In the 1950s Lillian Oppenheimer of New York City traveled around the world connecting origami artists who had been working independently. The subsequent exchange of ideas certainly helped push the sophistication and polish that origami was experiencing. An origami center was founded in 1958, and in 1980 this spawned off into a full-fledged organization known today as OrigamiUSA, largely from the efforts of fellow New Yorker Michael Shall. Alice Gray, an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History, provided the organization a home base in the museum. Gray, a respected origami artist herself, also created diagrams for now classic origami pieces, and became the editor of the organization’s magazine.

This book showcases the works of eighteen origami artists, some who were prominent back in the early days of this paper-folding renaissance, as well as a few people who are relatively new to the art. As you can see from their biographies, these are all very accomplished artists. There is certainly a tremendous amount of paper-folding talent in America.

An exciting part of this showcase is how varied the approaches are, and there is certainly a wide variety of subjects tackled. You can recreate their masterworks through the clear instructions. There are also links to see videos of the pieces being folded. Throughout the course of these projects, there are plenty of folds to keep fingers busy for hours. Enjoy!

Symbols and Terminology

Types of Folds

Valley fold

Mountain fold

Crease line

Hidden/X-ray line

Arrows

Fold forward

Fold behind

Fold and unfold

Sink/Reverse/Push in/Closed Sink

Turn over

Turn 90 degrees, half turn, etc.

Unsink/Pull out

Techniques

Reverse fold

Crimp

Rabbit ear

Squash fold

Petal fold

Sink

Closed sink

Sink triangularly

Pleat

Swivel/pivot