New Expressions in Origami Art. Meher McArthur

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      Infinity Folds Installation

       Tomoko Fuse, Japan 2015, shoji paper, Schafhof Gallery, Friesing, Germany (Photo by Fumiko Thuerk)

      Infinity Folds Installation (detail) with the artist

       Tomoko Fuse, Japan 2015, shoji paper, Schafhof Gallery, Friesing, Germany (Photo by Patsy Wang-Iveson)

      In recent years, although she is still writing and publishing prolifically, Fuse has focused increasing attention on her artistic creations, and for over a decade now she has been showing her work in exhibitions in Europe and the United States. In 2004, on the invitation of fellow origami artists Paulo Mulatinho and Silke Shröder, Fuse was invited to Germany to present a solo exhibition of her work at the Bauhaus design school in Dessau. Here, she presented sculptural works, including shell forms, spirals and a number of her tessellation designs. Fuse’s spirals have been admired all around the world since the 1990s, when she first published her spiral designs. One of her most famous designs is Navel Shell, a spiraling nautilus shell created from a long triangle of paper that is folded in a rotational pattern to create an elegant low-relief sculpture. A slight variation is her work Ammonite, which features a more complex spiral pattern at its center. Over the years, she has evolved her shell forms into more three-dimensional works, some crossing over into the realm of abstraction.

      One of the most intriguing forms that Fuse included in the Dessau exhibition and has featured in a number of exhibitions since then is a faceted cone that tapers upward like a geometric stalagmite reaching to the ceiling of the gallery. Folded in a range of heights in white, gray and shades of brown paper, these elegant Spiral Towers (from 1992) are grouped together and evoke a fantasy mountain range or majestic structures hewn from ice. In a variation of these single cones, Fuse folded single sheets of paper into more complex structures comprising four cones rising up from a single base and reaching outward in four directions, in a dynamic flight of fancy that balances geometry and grace. She named the works Biribiri (2012), after the Japanese onomatopaic word for an electrical discharge. As with her shell forms, the spiraling motion of the geometric surface patterning of these conical works suggests a mysterious and powerful internal energy that is pushing the structures upward and outward. They appear both mathematical and magical.

      Whirlpool Spiral

       Tomoko Fuse, Japan Designed 2001, this model folded 2012, Takeo OK Golden River paper (Photo by Herbert Bungartz, Freising. Published in SPIRAL: ORIGAMI | ART | DESIGN by Tomoko Fuse, Viereck Verlag)

      Whirlpool Spiral

       Tomoko Fuse, Japan Designed 2001, this model folded 2012, Takeo OK Golden River paper (Photo by Herbert Bungartz, Freising. Published in SPIRAL: ORIGAMI | ART | DESIGN by Tomoko Fuse, Viereck Verlag)

      Whirlpool Spiral (inside view)

       Tomoko Fuse, Japan, Designed 2001, this model folded 2012, Takeo OK Golden River paper (Photo by Herbert Bungartz, Freising. Published in SPIRAL: ORIGAMI | ART | DESIGN by Tomoko Fuse, Viereck Verlag)

      Whirlpool Stars

       Tomoko Fuse, Japan 2012, washi paper (Photo by Herbert Bungartz, Freising. Published in SPIRAL: ORIGAMI | ART | DESIGN by Tomoko Fuse, Viereck Verlag)

      Helices Form Trapezium

       Tomoko Fuse, Japan 2012, Takeo OK Golden River paper (Photo by Herbert Bungartz, Freising. Published in SPIRAL: ORIGAMI | ART | DESIGN by Tomoko Fuse, Viereck Verlag)

      Navel Shell

       Tomoko Fuse, Japan 2012, washi paper (Photo by Herbert Bungartz, Freising. Published in SPIRAL: ORIGAMI | ART | DESIGN by Tomoko Fuse, Viereck Verlag)

      Whirlpool Tessellation

       Tomoko Fuse, Japan 2007, washi paper (Photo by the artist)

      Spiraling motion is also apparent in Fuse’s tessellation work, which she has recently been exploring in a range of scales, from small low-relief works to larger three-dimensional installations. In a tessellation, a pattern fills a plane with no overlaps or gaps, like decorative wall tiles. Origami tessellations are often created using pleats to connect together elements such as twist folds in a repeating fashion, often giving the appearance of woven paper. Fuse had been folding tessellations since she was young, but only started incorporating them into her art work around 2000. Since then she has created many exquisitely colored and textured works, such as Whirlpool Pattern 00810 (2003), which has the appearance of an intricately woven textile. Typically in tessellations, the modules that are repeated across the design are pointed and angular, but many of Fuse’s tessellations include curved-creased elements that create a swirling motion in the patterning. At the same time, however, by interlocking each of the curls in the design, she anchors the motion to create an overall pattern that is energized but also stable and balanced. For many of these dynamic designs, she employs exquisitely hand-colored papers with tonal gradations that evoke a gentle sunset or the new greens of spring. These tones add a softness and depth to these elaborately patterned works.

      Infinity Folds Installation (detail)

       Tomoko Fuse, Japan 2015, shoji paper, Schafhof Gallery, Friesing, Germany (Photo by Taro Toriumi)