Blossoms
inspired by the neverending search of balance in life
Mixed Media: Origami Art + Photography
Collaboration with origami artist Paula Pietranera
first on display during the San Francisco Open Studios (September 20-22, 2024) in San Francisco Zen Center - Conference Center
Blooming North
Sometimes things just fall into place and work. Effortlessly. There’s action involved, movement, but no hard push, no enormous perseverance against resistance. The positive and negative flow is a constant dialogue, facing each other in the mirror of existence where each person, thing, or event in life is essentially neutral. Just being as they are.
And yet we tend to color our lives into the absolutes of black and white, attributing meanings to everything around us. This coloring may seem to be universal and culturally accepted, and it may be deeply personal. In any case, it’s always unique because each of us is a unique and perfect individual, with a background, experience, and perception of our own. The project plays with the universal black-and-white duality of how we tend to live our lives, and then guides us to unite the opposites, a return to wholeness, which is their true nature.
Blooming East
In this collaborative project image and shape, like black and white, capture the essence of oneness. A three-dimensional expression of connectedness comes forth through the ancient Renzuru* technique of paper-folding, bringing the inner expression of balance in each photo to a new light of contrast where all becomes one.
Blooming West
* Renzuru:
The term renzuru ("conjoined cranes") refers to an origami technique whereby multiple cranes are folded from a single sheet of paper, employing a number of strategic cuts to form a mosaic of semi-detached smaller squares from the original large square paper. The first appearance of renzuru is in a book published in 1797, titled Hiden Senbazuru Orikata (the secret methods of making a thousand conjoined cranes)
Blooming South
About the Artists
Dasha Pears
Dasha Pears is a surreal fine art photographer and visual artist whose practice is focused on exploring the human psyche, psychological states, and emotions. Her art is deeply philosophical and reflects her constant search for peace and coming to terms with the chaos of reality.
Paula Pietranera
Paula Pietranera is a contemporary artist whose modern fine art work is inspired in the delicate subtlety of traditional Japanese craftsmanship and art. She elevates the ancient Renzuru paper folding technique, into a highly refined and sophisticated visual expression of intimacy and connection.