Wet Folding

I sat down early on this evening frustrated with a massively complex origami eagle, which is supposed to take up to 6 hours to fold. The problem is, this is my second attempt and I screwed it up on the same step as last time.... somewhere around step 110. Ugh. 

I needed something new to refresh my motivation. I stumbled upon two models that peaked my interest- not for their complexity, but for their apparent simplicity. These models require very few diagrammed steps, but have a very artistic sculpture quality to them. They are little works of art.

The first was "Panther Mask" by Michael Lafosse. I folded this using the paper made during my last post. The paper was maybe a 9" square. it was thick and had some denim cotton content. As I started to fold this model, I noticed the thick paper seemed to soak up the force of my fingers as if it knew what I was asking it to do. I'm not saying I was creating some revolutionary masterpiece- far from it. But the paper felt like clay in my fingers.

I spent a good hour working this model, rounding in the shapes of the face- the nose, the cheeks, the upper lip. I just kept working at it until I was happy with the shape. I think I just found a whole new universe within Origami.

The next model I stumbled across is called "Cat" by Vietnamese artist Giang Dinh. This is the first time I did a "true" wet fold- where I used a damp sponge to wet the areas as I worked. For this model I used a 9" square of thick home made paper made from Kraft stock that had been treated with Methyl Cellulose. Though this first attempt is far from a masterpiece, it has considerably more shape and life than the mask did. It definitely requires much more artistry than technical folding talent. The diagrammed steps number less than a dozen! It really is too bad I'm not a cat person!