Akira Yoshizawa

Akira Yoshizawa went beyond folding simple origami cranes to transform the hobby into a unique art form.  Stock.XCHNG

If you are interested in the history of paper folding, there's no doubt that Akira Yoshizawa is a name to remember. While no single person can be credited with "inventing" origami, Akira Yoshizawa is widely recognized for his work in raising origami from a craft to a living art form. For this reason, he is often referred to as either the "grandmaster of origami" or the "father of origami."

A Brief Akira Yoshizawa Biography

Akira Yoshizawa was born on March 14, 1911. His parents were dairy farmers, but he moved to Tokyo when he was just 13 years old to take a job in a factory. When he was in his early 20s, he was promoted from his factory worker position to a job as a technical draftsman. As part of his duties, he was responsible for teaching new employees basic geometry. He decided to use origami, which he had learned as a child, as a teaching tool to make these lessons easier to understand.

The Centre helps promote awareness of origami by arranging exhibitions, demonstrations, and instructional classes.

In 1956, Akira Yoshizawa married his wife Kiyo. She served as his manager and taught origami alongside him until his death.

Akira Yoshizawa's incredible origami skill afforded him many opportunities to travel around the world, which made it possible for him to serve as a goodwill ambassador for the Japanese government. In 1983, he was named to the Order of the Rising Sun. This is one of the highest honors for a citizen of Japan.

Akira Yoshizawa Origami Models and Exhibitions

Even though Akira Yoshizawa was a self-taught origami artist, his work was eventually exhibited in shows around the world. His origami appeared in exhibits at the Cooper Union in New York, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and the Louvre.

Akira Yoshizawa estimated he created 50,000 different origami models over the course of his career. However, only a handful of these were ever diagrammed and published. Simple and elegant lines were the defining features of Akira Yoshizawa's origami models. He never used scissors, glue, or additional embellishments when creating his origami designs. His lumbering gorillas, flying dragons, and graceful cranes were sculptural art. His goal was to convey emotion and feeling – even if this didn't result in an entirely realistic representation of his subject.

Invention of the Wet-Folding Technique

Although Akira Yoshizawa pioneered many different origami techniques, wet-folding is one of his most significant contributions. This technique involves slightly dampening the paper before making a fold. Wet-folding allows the paper to be manipulated more easily, resulting in finished origami models that have a rounder and more sculpted look. The ability to create origami with a more realistic appearance was an important advancement in paper folding, since it took models away from the realm of simple crafts and towards true artistic expression.

Wet-folding is most often used with thicker paper, however. Normal origami paper is very thin and thus prone to tearing when using the wet-folding technique.

Creation of the Yoshizawa-Randlett System

The Yoshizawa-Randlett system of notations is a standardized way of diagramming the steps involved in folding a particular origami model. In 1954, Akira Yoshizawa's Atarashi Origami Geijutsu (New Origami Art) used a diagramming system that included dotted and dashed lines to indicate mountain and valley folds, plus symbols such as the markings for “inflate” and “round.” This caught the attention of Samuel Randlett and Robert Harbin, who added a few additional symbols to develop the complete notation system that is still used by paper folders around the world today.

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Taras Lesko- Self Potrait Papercraft

Taras Lesko

Ukrainian born and raised, Graphic Design Artist, currently based in Seattle United States. I’m a 1 man studio, offering unique and often viral creative solutions to various clients, brands and organizations. My visual design fascination began in 1996 and I have been working at it professionally as a career since 2002. Making creative work is what I do and it’s what I’ll keep doing until the day I breathe my final breath.

Self Potrait Papercraft Clone

Taras Lesko :

My First real attempt at photo realistic paper crafting. And what better way to try out this new technique than to makea 2:1 scale replica of my own head? This was a very interesting learning process, spanning within some 120 hours. I must say that there is no experience quite like holding an oversized version of my head in my lap while piecing it together.

Credit : Taras Lesko

Bert Simons – Incredibly Lifelike Portrait

Bert Simons Sclupture

Eerie, faceted 3-D paper heads float on a wall like grotesque hunting trophies. They’re photo-realistic replicas of Rotterdam papercraft artistBurt Simons and his friends, created when Simons had a ‘mid-life crisis’ in 2006 and realized there wasn’t much of him that would be left behind. So, Simons decided to ‘clone himself’, sculpting his head in 3D and using photographs to texture it. He uses a computer program to flatten out the head into printable pieces of paper and then assembles them with glue. Simons says having his clones around helped him “get used to his bald spot”.

Credits : Bert Simons, weburbanist

Robert. J Lang - Monumental Origami

"Redpath Pteranodon," a 4-meter (16') wingspan origami Pteranodon installed at the Redpath Museum, McGill University,Montreal, Canada. Paper custom made by Papeterie St.-Armand, Montreal, Canada.

Singer and Violinist from an 8-piece life-size
orchestra, folded for the DRUPA trade show.

The term "Monumental" in "Monumental Origami" refers to size: this is large-scale origami, intended to make a visual impact from a distance. The uses of monumental origami are several: it can be used for decoration, for display, to make a statement about a company or product, or simply to provoke thought in the observer. One of the characteristics of origami is that it embodies a contradiction: how can such an intricate, detailed object come from a single uncut square? Monumental origami takes that contradiction and expands upon it. Conventional, bread-box-sized-or-smaller origami challenges the observer: is it possible from a single sheet? Monumental origami makes the same challenge, but adds the element of size to the mix.

Ingrid Siliakus – Detailed Architectural Masterpieces

Dutch paper artist Ingrid Siliakus deems her work ‘paper architecture’, and it’s a fitting description. Siliakus builds paper recreations of buildings made by master architects as well as her own abstract sculptures. She draws inspiration from sources like artist M.C. Escher and architect and paper sculptor Masahiro Chatani, whose work inspired her to try her hand at 3-D paper sculpture.

credits : Ingrid Siliakus , Weburbanist

Haruki Nakamura – Moving Parts Paper

Haruki Nakamura’s papercraft does more than just sit there and look pretty. The pieces fit together like gears, and actually turn for a kinetic effect that goes far beyond most papercraft creations. Skip to the 49 second mark on the video to see his papercraft heart in action.

Credit : Haruki Nakamura - weburbanist

Sher Christopher – Emotive Paper Figurines

Sculptor Sher Christopher’s creations look like characters in a play, replete with theatrical masks, hats and intricate costumes. Christopher gathers papers of various colors and textures from around the world, using the weight and feel of a sheet of paper to suggest the fluid flow of a gown or a wisp of hair. Christopher’s sculptures are characterized by unexpected attention to detail, such as an embossed belt barely visible under the folds of a coat.

credits : sher christopher | weburbanist

Eric Joisel – Detailed Classic Monster Figures

There’s a simple difference between mere papercraft and origami: the traditional concept of origami uses only once piece of paper with no cuts or glue. Eric Joisel is one modern origami artist that creates incredibly complex paper sculptures using blueprints that take him literally years to complete. Joisel says the creation process is like a scientific method, with creatures from myths and legends – like dwarves, fairies, hobbits and mermaids – popping up from his ‘crease patterns’.

Credits : Eric Joisel - weburbanist

Shin Tanaka – Adult Skills with Childlike Joy

Japanese artist Shin Tanaka creates paper toys with a look that is clearly influenced by urban street art and culture. Tanaka’s designs can be downloaded as a PDF so you can print, cut and build your ownversions of these playful creations. Tanaka was inspired to create these little guys when making plastic toys proved to be too costly, and he realized that creating and publishing paper toys was practically free. Shin began making paper models of sneakers he admired by couldn’t afford, which led to a display in a showcase of the NIKE design library as well as design collaborations with major shoe brands like Adidas.

credits :Shin Tanaka -weburbanist