Giang Dinh

Born 1966, Hue, Viet Nam

Studied architecture in Viet Nam and the USA

Design origami since 1998

Currently lives in Virginia, USA

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2019 – Origami Vietnam, EMOZ, Zaragoza, Spain

2019 – Lotusland in Origami, Ganna Walska Lotusland, Santa Barbara, CA

2016-2017 – Origami Universe, Chi Mei Museum, Tainan City Taiwan

2016 – Paper Creatures, the Old Jaffa Museum, Israel

2016 – Pulp and Possibilities, Peninsula School of Art, Wisconsin

2016 – Origami: Living World, National Museum of History, Taipei Taiwan

2015 – Folding Paper, Brigham Young University Museum of Art, Provo, UT

2014 – The Curious Art of Origami, Shumei Hall Gallery, Pasadena, CA

2014 – Surface to Structure: Folded Forms, Cooper Union, New York

2013 – Crease – New trends in origami, Sandusky Cultural Center, Ohio

2013 – Folding Paper, Crocker Museum, Sacramento, California, USA

2013 – Folding Paper, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, Wisconsin

2012 – Folding Paper,  Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, California

2012 – Honoring Eric Joisel, Angouleme, France

2009 – Exporigami,  Centro de Historia de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

2008 – Transforming Kami: The Art of Origami,  National Japanese American Historical Society, San Francisco, CA

2008 – Poetry in Paper, Krapina City Gallery, Krapina, Croatia

2008 – Origami Now, Peabody-Essex Museum, Salem, MA, USA

2007 – Treasures of Origami Art, Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, Haifa, Israel

2007 – Folding into Form – Masterpieces of Origami, Museum fuer Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany

2005 – Pulp Friction, New Takes on Paper, The Carriage Barn Arts Center, CT, USA

2005 – Masters of Origami, Hangar-7 Gallery, Salzburg, Austria

2003 – Origami Masterworks, Mingei International Museum of World Folk Art, San Diego, CA

= Who is Giang Dinh? = Giang Dinh was born in Hue, Vietnam in 1966. When he was about 7 years old, his parents gave him some books on origami. He studied architecture, but the Vietnam War broke out and the family lost everything. But he still had in his memory a few traditional origami models that he had learned from those books. He moved to the United States to continue his architecture studies. Then, one day in 1996, by chance he came across one of the books he parents had given him in a bookshop: The World of Origami by Isao Honda. He bought it, rediscovered his passion for paper folding and joined Origami USA. He bought some more books and started going to origami conventions, where he discovered and was inspired by the work of international artists. Giang Dinh, who now lives in Virginia in the United States, has been creating his own origami figures since 1998. He is a recognised artist who exhibits all over the world.

The art of origami

Origami is the art of folding paper. The term comes from two Japanese words, oru meaning fold and gami, meaning paper.

In the 6th century, Shinto monks were already using paper folding techniques to decorate pitchers of sake for religious ceremonies or to make packages for medicines or herbs and spices. The oldest form of religious origami known today is katashiro, which represents a divinity.

Giang Dinh and origami

Among the artists that practise origami, there are many that prefer complex figures which they see as real challenges. Although at first sight simple figures may look easy to make, in actual fact it is not so easy to capture the soul of a subject and bring it to life.A designer at heart, Giang Dinh has a pared down, sculptural, elegant, free and improvised style. For him, origami is like a Haiku: a few words can mean so many things. Here are 2 quotations that he is particularly fond of, which sum up his artistic style:

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

Antoine de Saint Exupéry

“Making the simple complicated is commonplace, making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity”

Charles Mingus

Happiness for Giang Dinh is a piece of paper! Finding it a constant source of wonder, he delights in the creative magic in his fingers as they skilfully manipulate the paper. With great modesty, he readily shares and passes on his know-how to others all over the world.

“Origami is an art form for sharing – anyone can do it, rich or poor”

He has two themes he returns to again and again: “dreamers”, which are semi-abstract characters that convey powerful emotions through the language of silence, and animals, which he instinctively fashions from memory rather than from a model.

Giang Dinh often uses the wet folding technique. Developed by Akira Yoshizawa, this technique involves dampening thick paper and working the paper almost like clay to gently form the shapes. Once dry, the figure keeps its shape like a real sculpture. He would actually like some of his origami figures to be turned into life-size metal sculptures so that the general public can touch and feel them.