Papercraft research

   

     The Artist and their work that inspired me the most was the wet fold origami pieces by Hoang Tien Quyet. He uses sheets of paper and water to fold the sheet to create organic smooth three dimensional sculptures.

     The technique used by Hoang Tien Quyet is a derivative of classical orgiami folding. In basic origami, the artist uses one sheet of  square paper  to fold in to a sculpture without the use of cutting or gluing the paper. The method used by Hoang is called wet fold origami, which requires the artist to use water and dampen the paper when folding allowing more organic bends in the paper and holding its shape when the paper dries. Wet fold origami requires thicker paper compared to the thinner paper usually used in normal origami because the thicker paper does not tear when handled wet.

     The wet fold origami technique used by Hoang was first created by Akira Yoshizawa. Akira Yoshizawa is "considered the grandmaster of origami" he wrote 18 books and has had international exhibitions show casing his origami art, he turned the craft of origami into a recognized art form. The person that had introduced Hoang to the art form was Giang Dinh.  He is also  known for his wet fold origami pieces. All three artists use the wet fold origami to make their works but they all have distinct styles and subjects they seem to perfer. Akira Yoshizawa is the creator of the technique and is the first one to experiment with it so the sculptures are more simple. Giang Dinh seems to create more human subjects and faces, where as Hoang Tien Quyet has applied the techniques of his masters and has created works that focus on animals and their delicate shapes.

Akira Yoshizawa and his wet fold origami pieces

Giang Dinh's wet fold origami "lovers"

Giang Dinh's wet fold origami "nude back"

      The reason Hoang's work inspired me is because it made me rethink the whole art form of origami. I've made simple origami cranes and such before but what I never really liked about the art form is the limited shapes the paper could make. Paper can only fold it's shape if it is folded, stuck together by some kind of adhesive or from the friction between the papers. These limitations would only allow origami to have sharp geometric shapes, with the end products usually being an interpretation of the subject in paper form rather than a sculpture of the subject on paper form. Seeing the possibility of  how just adding water can change the art form and give so much life to the sculptures amazes me. Wet fold origami has given me a different perspective on how a single sheet of paper can be used to make art.