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 With
this year's stunning incarnation of Origami USA's annual holiday tree,
which was officially lit in a ceremony held at 11 a.m. on November 24,
2003, June Sakamoto has truly outdone herself. June's vision of a tree
which brings the ocean to life has been stunningly realized, from the
construction of the sea floor, alive with anemones and manta rays, to
the rippling schools of fish and dolphins soaring over the beautiful
waves on top of the tree playing with the large ball like pearl as well
as a mobile of
twinkling stars wheeling high overhead. The various origami sea life are
so perfectly arranged that they look completely natural and fluid:
everything on the tree seems to blend in as well as to jump out at you
at the same time, creating a wonderful visual harmony. Completing the
illusion of an undersea spectacle are several series of acetate bubbles
running straight up to the top hung in strands on the branches of the tree, ingeniously arranged
in progressively smaller sizes to perfectly convey air bubbling up to
the surface.
This is the way origami should be portrayed, as art that reveals its
complexity and beauty as you take it in. Watching visitors gather round
this tree, whether by ones and twos or in teeming crowds of children, I
noticed that they all marvel first at its rich beauty, then at the fact
that this beauty was achieved through origami, through the simple
folding of paper with no cuts or glue. Like the best origami art, this
tree has the power to bring a new appreciation of origami for people who
aren't familiar with it, young and old alike.
Every time you look at it you see something different. One of my
nonfolding friends, gazing at the tree in amazement, remarked that like
any piece of fine art, you have to look at it from all different
perspectives to comprehend its depth and dimension and how much thought
went into each aspect of its creation.
I regret that I was not able to see the previous year's work in
person. June has been doing this for over five years, every one of those
trees has been amazing; but this year's tree outstripped them all.
Because this year's theme was an innovation, little could be reused from
past years, so over 1000 new origami models ranging from fish to shells
and many different varieties of sea creatures were made from
scratch. All in all over 4,000 pieces of paper were used to create
this marvel. June's clever idea of folding seaweed and coral to
use as the background setting, almost like garlands, took over 2,000
sheets of paper alone. 500 acetate bubbles were folded for the
tree but only about 400 were actually used for the final tree
design. This is a great example of how the tree was not just
thrown together by placing models anywhere and everywhere, each and
every piece of origami required a lot of thought on placement and many
times several pieces were moved around to find the optimum space for the
particular models.
All of the design elements had to be created
from scratch this year. June started working on the tree even before
last year's was taken down, pouring 500 hours of her own time and a
great deal of her own resources into making this tree happen. Every
aspect was thought out and rethought out until it was perfect. Her
extensive planning and vision show in every detail of this
creation.
June's talent and generosity are both inspiring and humbling. I
remember her telling me about these bubbles at the LIFE (Long Island
Folding Enthusiasts) festival, and I just could not envision what she
was talking about until I saw a sample string of the bubbles and was
amazed at the genius of her conceptual vision.
June's personal army of helpers included many active origami USA
members. Delrosa
Marshall's meticulous attention to detail about the placement and
positioning of the origami marine flora and fauna helped make this tree
a visual marvel. Kay Eng and many others, including a class of
schoolchildren who farmed their own origami seaweed, volunteered copious
amounts of their time to fold a lot of elements of the tree.
If you happen to run into June, make sure you tell her what an
amazing job she has done. The pictures I've taken don't do justice to
its complex magnificence. You have to see it. If you get a chance to be
in the city before Jan. 7 when the tree comes down, it is well worth the
effort to see this once in a lifetime opportunity. (And if you find
where the clownfish "Nemo" is hiding, make sure you keep it to
yourself and let everyone else look on their own.)
Happy folding to you all and thanks again to June, Del, Kay, and
everyone at OUSA that allowed me to be a part of this wonderful
experience. For any questions, comments or corrections please don't hesitate to email
me at Sok@creased.com. I wish
you all a wonderful and joyous holiday season and a great new year.
-Sok Song
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