Tomoko Fuse's Origami Art. Tomoko Fuse
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RED PARK MIXING TECHNIQUE
41.5 x 24.8 inches (1055 x 630 mm)
PAPER Washi/Hamada, Kochi
“Few origami artists have been as accomplished in as wide a range of styles, constantly pushing the boundaries on uncharted approaches. Fuse’s style is so rich, her geometric forms have an organic feel. This book also showcases the incredible execution of her works, clearly demonstrating her worthiness of the title of ‘Origami Master.’”
MARC KIRSCHENBAUM, AMERICAN ORIGAMI ARTIST AND AUTHOR OF ORIGAMI IN AN INSTANT
“The ‘queen of origami’ opens her treasure chest and shows us her incredible paper jewels, one by one. But this is not simply paper; it is art! Tomoko Fuse transforms a simple sheet into a tapestry, a painting, an expanding universe, into a triumph of intriguing and splendid forms that inevitably attract and overwhelm us with their beauty, like a roaring train. In a certain sense, origami offers a third way to art, it is transformative … and what a spectacle!
The origami in this book is of a higher level, a purely artistic origami.”
FRANCESCO DECIO AND VANDA BATTAGLIA, ITALIAN ORIGAMI ARTISTS AND AUTHORS OF LEZIONI DI ORIGAMI [ORIGAMI LESSONS]
OROCHI
Big
Diameter 8.9 inches (227 mm)
Small
Diameter 5.9 inches (150 mm)
DROP
Height x Diameter
30 x 8.7 inches (760 x 220 mm)
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 CONSTRUCTING WITH THE KNOT
CHAPTER 5 THE LIGHT BEHIND THE FOLDS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS/ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
MODELING WITH SWALLOW 45
WHIRL 3
Height x Diameter
7.9 x 51.1 inches (200 x 1300 mm)
AN ART WITH RULES
Origami is not an art without rules. Constraints and restrictions begin at the very moment that we make the first crease in the sheet. As we proceed to fold, the field of possibilities begins to narrow until only that particular form becomes possible. But if we get it right, the result leaves us breathless. What a great joy it is whenever an entire world is uncovered through a brief series of gestures.
Not necessarily everything begins with a preliminary design and plan for a specific object to be attained. An idea can easily pop up even at a seemingly insignificant moment, when, for example, we suddenly decide to flatten a certain fold or twist a certain element, or get an urge to roll up an edge or perhaps bend a component in half, and then in half again. We think as we fold. Head and hand work together.
The sensation that overcomes us as we perform one gesture after another is the desire not so much to create as to search and discover. Each time we make a fold in the right place and, by combining the various elements bit by bit, succeed in completing a model, we think to ourselves with great satisfaction, “See! That’s how it’s done!”
Handling paper is not like handling clay. Some use both in the same manner, but that is not my philosophy. In fact, it is precisely because paper cannot be molded according to our wishes that heretofore unseen forms may emerge from it. My goal is never to impose a shape of something onto the paper, but rather the reverse, to discover the amazing forms that slowly take shape as I proceed to fold it. This is what truly fascinates me.
Tomoko Fuse
SNAKE
Width x Height 5.3 x 3.7 inches (135 x 95 mm)
ORIGAMI AS ART
Among traditional handmade items used on a daily basis in Japan is the furoshiki, a bundle for holding and transporting goods, and the kimono, the country’s quintessential clothing item. In both, the most conspicuous formal quality is two-dimensionality.
When fulfilling the task of wrapping contents (that is, when used to transport a load), the furoshiki transforms itself from a flat piece of cloth into a three-dimensional object. So too does the kimono, which, when performing its function as a piece of clothing for covering the body, acquires volume and depth. Nonetheless, both the furoshiki and the kimono start out as flat, two-dimensional objects. The first is nothing but a square piece of cloth; the second, once folded, turns into thin layers of fabric (unlike Western garments which remain three-dimensional even when folded). In both cases, we confront something two-dimensional that becomes volumetric. Here, therefore, is the Japanese sense of form, one that is based on the concept of flat surfaces.
In the realm of contemporary art, Takashi Murakami has gained attention on the international art scene by working on the concept of Superflat, a term that captures the exaggeration of two-dimensionality