Resident artist discusses how the Japanese art form translates to rehabilitation
For Daniel Le, origami started as a curiosity. Having watched origami artists on YouTube videos inspired him to learn more about the art form. Eventually, Le created a signature piece of origami art — fireworks.
“When I am doing origami I am thinking on the steps that I need to take, that I’ve learned in how to make the fireworks,” said Le. “I memorized them.”
Origami, a Japanese paper folding art form has evolved from hand games for children into an art form. Its concept of folding has progressed even to outer space: Le said he had seen a video on the GTL tablet’s Edovo app that showed NASA’s James Webb Telescope unfurling its massive solar panels with a design similar to origami.
Le’s origami firework requires 15 pieces of six-inch-by-six-inch paper and an hour to complete. Artistic folding links and locks the papers — origami uses no cutting or glue.
He also likes modular origami. The green “Igel,” which looks like a star, takes 30 pieces of three-inch-by-three-inch paper that are glued together. The “Igel” takes about two hours to complete.
Since his incarceration, Le joined the origami class “Folding Cranes for Peace” at San Quentin. The class, facilitated by Jun Hamamoto, taught Le origami designs for flowers, hearts with wings, cranes, and many more. In his spare time, Le made origami that he donated to organizations and events. Recently, Le helped make “peace bird” and “heart with a crane” origami to honor the children killed in the current conflict in Israel and Gaza.
Le described a T-Rex skull as the most intricate origami he has tried. He still has not completed it. “I’m able to do all the steps except the last one,” Le said. The last step, if done correctly, would allow the skull to open and close its mouth if squeezed.
“Origami reflects the type of person I am, a hard-worker. I keep practicing and practicing until I get it right. It’s the same for music; I play and practice the violin. I receive compliments of both my origami and music of how much I’d improved over the years, and it shows how much discipline and hard work I’ve done. Those comments gave me the self-confidence that I lack throughout my life despite feeling shy about them. Now that I know that I’m capable of doing things through hard work, I can bring it to the outside world when I parole.”
