This weekend, January 18-19, the Woodson Art Museum hosts origami artist Jiangmei Wu and snow sculptors as they work wonders with paper and snow.
Many of us have made – as or with kids – our fair share of paper airplanes, origami cranes, or snowmen.
Visitors marvel at Jiangmei Wu’s immense Ruga Swan, on view in Above the Fold, through March 1.
These artists’ transformations, though, are magical.
Whether you visit to marvel at their results or satisfy your curiosity about the artists’ tools and techniques, inspiration and insights are in store.
Jiangmei Wu is one of the nine origami artists whose artwork is featured in Above the Fold: New Expressions in Origami, on view through March 1, and her prominent Ruga Swan is impressive. Jiangmei, an Indiana University assistant professor of interior design and founder of Folded Light Art + Design, leads a weekend studio workshop for teens and adults and a public presentation on Saturday afternoon, January 18. During her Saturday presentation, 1-2 pm, learn how Jiangmei uses math and foldable origami techniques to transform flat sheets of paper into sculptural pendant lights and how she interprets crease patterns to create elegantly engineered public art installations and architectural structures. For details about Jiangmei and her weekend workshop, check out this link: https://bit.ly/2FMC12v
Outside, Team USA Snow Sculptors – Mike Martino, Tom Queoff, and Mike Sponholtz – crystalize origami by working their wintertime wonders. This marks their 30th year creating snow sculptures at the Woodson Art Museum. Drop by to see them at work and chat with them about their process on Saturday and Sunday, January 19 and 19, Noon-5 pm.
Kevin Box and Michael G. LaFosse, Seed Sower, 2017, painted cast aluminum
Team USA will sculpt an oversized squirrel from snow, inspired by Kevin Box’s and Michael G. LaFosse’s sculpture on view in Alchemy Unfolding. Kevin Box, who captures the fragility of paper in his metal sculptures, is enamored with the possibilities inherent in each blank page.
Time is like that, too – full of possibility. Yet the ephemeral nature of snow is a reminder to enjoy it all while it lasts. Although the cold may be here to stay for many a day, the artists will be traveling onward.
Seize opportunities to visit with friends and family this weekend, January 18-19, noon-5 pm, at the always-free Woodson Art Museum, and make warm memories to last throughout the winter and beyond.
