PCOC 2009 Guest Artists

Makoto Yamaguchi is one of the most prolific origami authors today, as well as a major figure in Japanese origami and the proprietor of Gallery Origami House, the home of the Japan Origami Academic Association and the site of the most advanced, cutting-edge origami in the world.

Peter Engel is best known for his first origami book, Origami from Angelfish to Zen, which has become one of the classic works of the field. At PCOC 2009, he will be presenting "Finding Inspiration in Strange Places," in which he will discuss the far-flung sources of inspiration for his origami designs, such as his origami "Moomin" (right).

Robert J. Lang is fairly well-known in the origami world as the author of a few books and composer of a couple of origami designs. He will be presenting a workshop on origami design, focusing on techniques such as advanced box-pleating (called "polygon packing") that can be used to design complex figures with little more than pencil and paper. A booklet of this presentation, to be published by JOAS, is planned to be available at the conference.

Linda Tomoko Mihara comes from an origami family: her sister, Vicky, is a noted expert on Japanese gift-wrapping and her grandfather published some of the first English-language origami books in America. She is noted for her dollar bill folds and new designs in the ancient tradition of "cut cranes." She will talk about how she designs life-size wearable origami (see right) using the Kimono Jacket as an example and about techniques she has used in her recent tessellation work.

Meenakshi Mukerji is the author of two highly-regarded books on modular origami and the creator of many beautiful modular designs ("Layered Petunia," right). She will be teaching one or more models from her books.

Bernie Peyton is widely known as one of the most artistic and sensitive interpreters of the natural world in origami. Drawing upon his years as a field biologist and origami artist, he will present on the topic of "secrets of shaping more natural behavior in models and then displaying them." ("Yawning Kit Fox," right.)

Jeremy Shafer is internationally known for his clever pop-ups (right), ingenious action models, and wild and zany performance origami! Look forward to a special presentation by this Bay Area master!