Éric Joisel (15 November 1956 – 10 October 2010) was a French

origami ) is the Japanese art of paper folding. In modern usage, the word "origami" is often used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin. The goal is to transform a flat square sheet of paper into a ...

artist who specialized in the wet-folding method, creating

figurative art Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork (particularly paintings and sculptures) that is clearly derived from real object sources and so is, by definition, representational. The term is often in contrast to abstract a ...

sculptures using sheets of paper and water, without the use of any adhesive or scissors.

Early life

Joisel was born on 15 November 1956, in

Montmorency, Val-d'Oise Montmorency () is a Communes of France, commune in the Val-d'Oise department, in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Montmorency was the fief of the Montmorency family, one of the oldest ...

, a commune in the northern suburbs of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and focused his education on history and law before turning to art. His initial experiences in the art world were in sculpting, using the traditional forms of clay and stone.

Career

He first discovered in the 1980s the unique forms created with paper by

Akira Yoshizawa was a Japanese origamist, considered to be the grandmaster of origami. He is credited with raising origami from a craft to a living art. According to his own estimation made in 1989, he created more than 50,000 models, of which only a few hundred ...

, the Japanese grandmaster of origami who had created more than 50,000 models, developing the wet-folding method that allowed for the creation of three-dimensional rounded sculptures. Joisel was taken by the way the Yoshizawa's works blended classical origami methods and standard forms of sculpture in order to make expressive figures out of wet paper, without making any cuts or using any glue.Fox, Margalit
"Eric Joisel, French Sculptor of Origami, Dies at 53"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', October 20, 2010. Accessed October 20, 2010. Joisel shifted to working with paper in the 1990s, devoting the remainder of his career to creating origami art using his own self-taught variation of the wet-folding techniques that Yoshizawa had developed and refined. He devoted his life to origami after losing his job as the manager of a printing company. Living in a small home, he devoted hours focusing on the meticulous design and detail of each piece of origami. He could spend as much as years working out the plans for one of his original origami pieces, with a single piece created over a period of days or weeks, involving hundreds of precisely planned and executed folds to sheets of paper that could measure to as much as by to create figures that ranged from the size of one's hand to life size, while many were no more than high. Though his work was displayed at the

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

and collectors from around the world paid as much as thousands of dollars for some of his origami sculptures, the tremendous amount of time that he devoted to each work meant that he didn't earn much income. Themed pieces that he handcrafted included figures from

commedia dell'arte Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Theatre of Italy, Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is a ...

and foot-high sculptures of musicians each holding a finely detailed musical instrument.Eric Joisel: Musicians
, EricJoisel.com. Accessed October 20, 2010. Joisel published many of the design plans for his figures, providing a look into the extraordinary level of detail and precision that "renders his art simultaneously approachable and unattainable". In his obituary, ''

'' included instructions on how to duplicate one of Joisel's figures of a rat, though it noted that "no lay person should even contemplate the hedgehog". Joisel was featured in the documentary '' Between the Folds'', a 2009 film by Vanessa Gould about the modern world of origami artists.

Gallery

Joisel First Dwarf.jpg, Joisel's First Dwarf Joisel - Three Kings - from Lord of the Ring.jpg, Three Kings - from Lord of the Ring Joisel - Gandalf.jpg, Gandalf Origami Joisel Rat.jpg, The Origami Rat

Death

A resident of

Sannois Sannois () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 15.2 km (9.4 miles) from the center of Paris, in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France. Population Transport Public transpor ...

, Joisel died at the age of 53 on 10 October 2010, in

Argenteuil Argenteuil () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Argenteuil is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise Departments of France, ...

, of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. He had never married and had no children, and was survived by four siblings.

References

External links

Hommage à Éric JoiselForever - Eric Joisel (15/11/1956 - 10/10/2010)
* *Eric Joisel Award 2012 :

Kade Chan Kade may refer to: People with the given name *Kade Anderson (born 2004), American baseball player *Kade Banks (born 2000), New Zealand rugby union footballer *Kade Bell (born 1993), American football coach *Kade Chandler (born 2000), Australian ru ...

Instructions to create a sculpture of a rat
*http://www.ericjoisel.com/ *
Interview in the British Origami Society magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joisel, Eric 1956 births 2010 deaths People from Val-d'Oise Deaths from lung cancer in France 20th-century French sculptors French male sculptors 21st-century French sculptors 21st-century French male artists Origami artists