Origami Bonsai Sculpture

A few weeks ago we posted an article about the sculptural potential of Origami and Kirigami. Today upon browsing through some art prints, we found that among the origami artists of Japan, some consider a few form to be a hybrid between two types of art. Bonsai Origami is a combination of the paperfoldding craft and the tree-shaping craft, both popular art hobbies in Japan. In this hybrid hobby, the technique uses tree branches from actual plants, and combines these elements with paper flowers, leaves and fruits. This interesting artform was actually introduced by a foreigner; John Coleman in 2010.

Coleman wrote a book entitled Origami Bonsai during April of last year. Aside from his initial publication, Coleman still strives to improve the technique further. He developed a technique called Makigami which uses rolled up newspapers in specific contours to substitute the real tree branches. Coleman's organic passion for origami has taken the practice to a different level of orientation. He has adapted his own style into an age-old art form and has gained a number of followers at the same time.

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Bill Woodrow's Sculptures Combine and Create from a Degree of Metal Diversities

In the 1970's many new faces in the world of Britain's sculpture community emerged into popular society. Among the personalities, Bill Woodrow stood out as a contemporary sculptor of mixed media creations. Many of his very first sculptural pieces were works made from materials and objects found in scrap yards. He has a fondness for using metal wares and machinery that have been discarded and abandoned. Many of the artworks made by Woodrow actually retain a sense of their former elements. Woodrow alters a diversity of materials to present them to the public in a new context of understanding, but still creates a personal feel and narrative by which people can relate with.

Sculpture by Bill Woodrow - Photography by John McCullough 2006

He started using bronze as a material for his creative process during the 1990's. He was also one of the three artists selected to make a sculpture for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in 2000. Woodrow's many exquisite pieces made him famous for his metal assemblage skills and his original kind of creativity. Some of his other works distinctly proclaimed a new take on mixed media, such as his sculpture Pond in 2006 which made use of hundreds of copper or bronze coin shapes. The image featured above is Woodrow's sculpture Sitting in History which was bought by Carl Djerassi and Diane Middlebrook in the late 1990's for the British Library. Bill Woodrow's contemporary creations have earned him a following even among the younger generations of today's modern art world.

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