Sending my children out into the great big world out there.
This world-weary fellow is currently residing in Israel, soon to be a part of an international origami exhibition at the Tikotin Museum in Haifa, due to begin this summer. Some information about the Museum of Japanese Art in Israel can be found here. Saadya Sternberg, the acting curator for the show, assures me that origamists of renown from all over the world will be participating, so if you should find yourself Haifa this summer, why not drop on by!
The piece is similar to earlier designs, more or less a cross between Moses and a mask I had simply named “Another Bearded Fellow”, apparently whilst in a funk of creative malaise. This new mask is distinguished by a coating of shellac, which is a treatment I’ve been experimenting with for a while, but only now have I started to get it right. It gives the piece a look of old varnished wood, and stiffens the paper and protects it from the elements as well.
This model may be easily recognized as a variation of the Triplet, with one face less. The original Triplet was inspired by a suggestion from Eric Gjerde and a three-faced sculpture he had seen. The two-faced variation, Gemini, was suggested by my better half, who has an aversion to odd numbers (the name, however, was my idea, so don’t blame her for that). It would seem I am highly suggestible. I should consider myself lucky that she didn’t suggest four faces to keep the number even (Mount Rushmore in paper? hmmmm….).
This mask is in Massachusetts right now, being prepared for inclusion in the Origami Now! show at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, beginning this summer. Take a look at their press release and you’ll see that lots of really wonderful artists will be represented there. Go check this one out, it should be a great show. I would go myself, but I have still more irons in the fire.
In addition to this year’s Origami USA convention in New York, which I hope against hope to be able to attend – so many good friends to see there – I’ll be helping out with the local Islamic Society of Lawrence’s youth camp for a day, elaborating on the influence of traditional Islamic arts in the seemingly disparate art of origami, re: tessellations. But mostly I’ll be showing little ones how to fold paper and have fun.
And I’ve been invited to participate in the annual Origami Festival at Tansu in Houston, which looks to be a great time for all, with demonstrations, workshops and all that. It is also a charitable event for the Sunshine Kids Foundation, a Houston based organization providing positive activities for children undergoing cancer treatment. The kids will be at the festival and they will be folding. Should be a blast!
