Through photography, symbolism and the reduction of populations to fragile paper forms, 'Origami Extinction' seeks to make the scale of extinction perceptible by translating statistical realities into a visual language of absence.
 

The paper forms operate as numerical traces: each fold stands for an individual of a species in danger of extinction. Thereby, disappearance is rendered immediately apprehensible and what might otherwise remain abstract is transformed into a material composition. 

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Rather than relying upon images of violence or destruction, the series turns towards beauty, restraint and contemplation. The colours mirror the natural tones and habitats of the selected species, while areas left voluntarily unoccupied draw upon the principles of Japanese nihonga, functioning as a space for contemplation. The absence is no longer the consequence of extinction, but an active visual presence.

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The origami practice associated with continuous tradition contrasts with the nature of extinction, however it finds patience to be a commonality, as in both instances the latter is required to carry out the desired transformation. The fragility of the paper also becomes inseparable from the lives it emulates, and in allowing itself to be repeatedly folded, it acts as a vessel of labour and hope.

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Likewise, the photographs fix on paper ephemeral compositions representing species that may no longer exist in such numbers, thus becoming acts of preservation and memorials. By giving statistics a visual form, the series considers how representation might induce an emotional recognition of the singularity and precariousness of non-human life, or at the very least one of an intellectual nature.
 

All original photographs are numbered and limited to six editions.