Sipho Mabona

Sipho Mabona

Title: Peaceful Koi

Media: Paper

Dimensions: 16’x11’x1’

Date: January 2009

   Brief Bio: According to the biography found on his web site mabonaorigami.com,  at the age of 5 Mabona folded his first paper airplane. By the age of 20, the Swiss native had mastered the art of plane folding and taught himself origami. Over a course of 8 years, Mabona evolved into the well known origami master he is today. Since 2008, Mabona has been featured in over 50 exhibits, magazines, and even an award winning Asics corporate movie “Origami in the Pursuit of Perfection”.

   Artists/Critique statement: According to an interview captured in the video “Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami”, Mabona gives a metaphor for life through his origami ventures, “When you come into the world, you are not a finished article. You have to find your own way, to develop and work on yourself”. –Sipho Mabona

   Background on work presented: In an interview by typedesk.com, a typographic desk reference site, Mobana states this particular Koi installation took about 3 months to make. Each Koi is folded from a single sheet of paper. Mabona says also in the interview that the folding is the easy part and each koi only takes an hour or 2 to make. However, it’s the design and placement that takes up the majority of his time.

   How it connects to the theme and why you chose the work: Origami is a major category in the paper craft realm. I chose this installation for its color and motion that make the air into a stream or pond that one might find in a garden.