The minimalistic “white on black” portrait was envisioned and shot by Dasha Pears in her home studio in Helsinki, Finland, then developed, edited, and printed on Hahnemühle Bamboo FineArt paper to be sent to San Francisco for the next phase of creating the piece.

Paula Pietranera finished the piece by adding 348 origami cranes folded from a single sheet of special paper.

The cranes are white, to support the whiteness of the skin, hair and clothes and to contrast with the empty black background of the portrait, to symbolize the balance of opposites in life, which in union comprise what we experience every day.

Currently the piece is framed without a glass in a simple black wooden frame to display the beauty and interplay of paper textures.

A person assembling a large, intricate art piece with many small, white origami cranes on a black background, forming a detailed portrait of a woman's face.

A woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes partially covered by an intricate white paper origami art installation.

A woman with long blonde hair, wearing a light-colored top, partially covering her face with her right hand. She is holding a decorative, geometric, star-shaped object that drapes across her face and extends downward. The background is dark.

Watch the video to observe how the application of the origami art was done.

Blooming West