Ronik Bhaskar, Class of 2024

Origami Experience:

Ronik Bhaskar is a third-year undergraduate studying computer science and mathematics.

I’ve been contemplating origami as a medium and a community, and I wanted my models to reflect that. Concentric polygons are at the forefront of modern origami research because of their unique self-folding properties, creating beautiful, curved surfaces from simple patterns. It’s a reminder that origami is a collaborative experience with the medium. If you can work with the paper, it will work with you. Fight it, and it will fight back. We are far from fully understanding the self-folding properties of concentric polygons and circles in paper, but we can at least appreciate it in our art.

After origami revitalization efforts a few decades ago, artists began pushing the dogma of using a single, square sheet of paper for every model. Most modern origami follows that standard, yet the world-famous Above the Folds exhibit uses circular paper in innovative ways. The beauty of the origami community is the accessibility of the art form, but the separation between the average and elite folders appears insurmountable. As I keep teaching origami, my hope is that new artists are willing to try innovative—and sometimes controversial—techniques without the fear of being judged or doing something wrong.

I don’t take myself too seriously, and I hope you won’t either, so I made the hat for fun.

Models:

Reaching
12 in. watercolor paper
designed by Ronik with inspiration from Erik Demaine

Concentric Polygons
6 in. kami
designed by various artists independently

Flasher Hat
36 in. butcher paper
designed by Jeremy Shafe