Origami Installation

What is origami? Most people would describe it as is an activity in which squares of colored paper are folded to create representations of animals, objects or geometric forms. However, this would not describe the folded paper installations of Tomoko Fuse (b. 1951). Her work asks us to consider the relationships between tradition and innovation.  Is her work origami, or is it sculpture made from folded paper? 

Fuse first came to international prominence as an origami artist in the 1980's, when her many books about modular (unit) origami popularized the genre around the world.  More recently, she has returned to one-sheet folding, creating a long series of spiral forms and textile-like tessellated surfaces. Her most recent works are large-scale installations, reminiscent of Japanese gardens made of gravel and rocks.

Despite this diversity of work, there are common themes. Tomoko Fuse lives in a traditional Japanese house on a remote mountain in Nagano Prefecture and her work, although geometric in form, reflects her strong emotional connection to nature. There is always a delicacy in her work, given form and meaning through repetition. Although mathematical at its heart, Fuse has always insisted that her work is of little mathematical interest and that she is an artist.

Over her 35-year career, Tomoko Fuse has become one of the most influential and respected of all origami artists. Her artworks were exhibited at the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art in 2007 as part of the group exhibition, "Treasures of Origami Art."  Fuse’s current installation is her first solo exhibition in Israel.

This is Fuse’s second visit to Israel. In 2004 and 2019, Fuse was invited by the Israeli Origami Center (founded, 1993) as the guest of honour at their conferences.

Paul Jackson, Curator and professional origami artist

In collaboration with the Israeli Origami Center