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I had the opportunity to spend three months in South America with my
partner Geordie Facey. Thanks to connections provided me by Roman Diaz
I met some wonderful folders there.
Beginning in Lima I met Mart Tagata de Silva who is the president of
the Asociacion Educativa de Origami Peru. She not only introduced me to
her coterie of folders but also served as an excellent tour guide while
we were in Lima. She took us to several fine museums and also
introduced us to some fine people at the Japanese Peruvian Cultural
Centre there. I also had the opportunity to meet the AEOP members there
which gave us all an opportunity to interact and fold together.
After our time in Lima we headed up to the town of Huancayo where we
met Keny Cordova and his friend Alejandro from Huancavelica. Keny
impressed me with his wondeful models, especially the wasp which he
folded from a crease pattern. He took more than a month and a half of
working with the CP before finally creating the wasp, but it is a
masterpiece. He had the wasp folded in two sizes and the detail is
incredible. He was so proud of his work that he had a t-shirt made with
the crease pattern emblazoned on the back. What a wonderful way to
celebrate.
Alejandro is another remarkable young folder. He has developed over 150
different models, many of them like his llama, very complex pieces of
work. He likes to work in fantasy models although his models of the
llama, an alpaca and a cuy (the guinea pig) are extremely realistic.
Later when I met Alejandro in his hometown of Huancavelica he showed me
even more models and also spent four hours with me working to help me
fold my own llama. At the same time he made a llama just for me which
he decorated in the appropriate style.
On to Arequipa where I met Renee who is a master of the art of modular
folding. His work is very much unique - many individual pieces are
fitted together to make 3-D models of fantasy creatures and science
fiction inspired craft. A friend of his joined us and showed off his
own work including a two meter long cobra developed by David Derudas.
In Cusco I met Roberto who brought along a group of his origami folders
to my hotel where we spent several very happy hours eating and folding
together. Most of his folding group were teenagers, but a very talented
group. One of them gave me a model of a mouse like creature which I
understand is an extinct rodent from the area. Roberto has also
designed several works of his own including a flapping pterodactyl (at
least I named it that), which is a wonderful variation on the flapping
menagerie available.
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