Owl, by Tuan Nguyen Tu

Owl 5
Originally uploaded by ttsan

This piece is the latest in a series of minimalist owls by Tuan Nguyen Tu, who for the past six months has been exploring simple, symbolic origami. This is an excellent example of how little technique is required to bring across a subject; many designers would have six or seven points, but he's shown us that we don't need any points at all, if we know how to make the paper work in our favor.

I admit this is sort of a theme for me, but I am reminded again not to think in terms of points, but in terms of lines-- visual artistry instead of pure structure.

I've been working on adding faces to boxpleated models, so the subject was already in my mind. Nonetheless, sculptures like this owl remind me how far I have yet to go still...