Origami in the Garden

A monumental sculpture exhibit will be on display at the Missouri Botanical Garden in 2020 when Origami in the Garden opens this spring. Origamiinthegarden is a custom traveling sculpture exhibition created by Santa Fe artists Jennifer and Kevin Box that captures the delicate nature of this paper art form in museum-quality metals. The exhibition features Kevin Box’s own larger- than-life compositions as well as collaborations with world-renowned origami artists Te Jui Fu, Beth Johnson, Michael G. LaFosse and Robert J. Lang. The monumental show has more than 20 large-scale sculptures that include flying birds, emerging butterflies, floating boats and soaring paper airplanes that will be placed throughout the Garden’s iconic locations. The crown jewel of the exhibition is Master Peace, a 25-foot sculpture of 1,000 stainless steel origami peace cranes. Another highlight is “Painted Ponies,” the first collaboration between Kevin Box and Chinese origami artist Te Jui Fu. The ponies display the colorful papers that are often used in origami, as well as another Japanese paper-folding technique called “kirigami,” which means “cutting paper.” Here, scissors are used to make four cuts in the paper square to more easily achieve the details of the pony’s legs and ears. The symbol on the back of the large pony is a collaborative signature. The Chinese character of Te Jui’s last name, Fu, means “teacher,” and the box that encloses the character represents Kevin’s last name.