Las Vegas Weekly

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Kristen Peterson

Wed, Jun 20, 2012 (5:30 p.m.)

Origami’s beauty lies not only in its delicate and angular sculptures, but also in its process—a precise and sequential creasing and folding using only hand and paper to create complex and elaborate objects. Luis Varela-Rico changes all that by entering a new medium into the centuries-old Japanese tradition. The industrial designer bends and folds sheet metal to create large-scale renditions of origami birds.

You might have seen them placed guerilla-style Downtown, hanging from a light post outside Artifice or on street signs. If not, you can find Valera-Rico’s work at Brett Wesley Gallery through July 28. Though large and indestructible, the sculptures, mostly cranes—including “In flight,” a five-part piece that captures the stages of a bird taking flight—feature the same visual elements of folded paper and, surprisingly, the same sense of delicacy that is the very beauty of origami.