HK: How did you first get into origami?
SM: Actually, it was paper airplanes. I used to make them as a kid, and I really enjoyed folding them. I kept folding them until I was 19 or 20 years old. I wanted to design original paper airplanes, so I started doing origami, thinking that it would help with the paper airplanes. And that’s how I got into origami. First it was just a part-time job. I did some events, then I got asked to do a commercial for [Japanese sports brand] ASICS (watch video below) and that was kind of big and it won a lot of prizes. So that was pretty much it. After that I started getting commissions.

Origami In the Pursuit of Perfection from MABONA ORIGAMI on Vimeo.

HK: What tools do you usually use to design your pieces?
SM: Mostly I use pencil and paper. I just draw it out. I usually first draw the piece pattern—what it looks like when it’s all in pieces—then I fold it and try to adjust the proportions. Sometimes I use paper if I have an idea or concept. There’s software you can use for this, but I don’t really like that. Software does things as efficiently as possible, but doesn’t have any aesthetics behind it, so I prefer just doing it [myself], it’s more hands-on.

HK: Can you tell us a bit about your most recent work?
SM: If you look at the pieces that are on display here, they’re more like my earlier work. It’s more representational and depicts what I see in nature. I was always interested in animals and nature. The newer stuff that I do is more conceptual—more installation pieces. For instance, right now I’m working on an installation where I fold a swarm of locusts from US dollar bills. You can buy dollar bills before they’re cut, when they’re still in squares. With that swarm, I’m referring to the plague, the biblical story, but I’m also referring to the problems that we have right now, like the German politician [Franz Müntefering] who called the investment banks “locusts” and said that they were responsible for the economic crisis.

HK: What sorts of resources do you need if you’re going to fold a large-scale piece?
SM: First of all, you have to get the right paper. It’s pretty hard to get really large paper of good quality that won’t rip or tear. Usually, you need a large working space because the sheets may be two to five meters. And then you’d best use kneepads because you’ll be crawling around on your knees a lot trying to fold stuff! And sometimes the paper can support itself, but sometimes you need to build support structures underneath it. Building those is harder for me because I have to collaborate with other people who are experts at working with those things. I take more time doing that than I take to fold the actual origami. Usually origami is in just one piece, but sometimes you need to put it together from several pieces because you can’t get a piece of paper that’s 20 by 50 meters.

HK: What’s your largest-scale piece?
SM: The largest thing I’ve ever folded from a single piece was a geometric abstract that was six by 10 meters, which would be like a small apartment. The most complicated was probably the trilobite. It has 32 legs and eight antennae. It took half a year to design it and 20 hours to fold it.

HK: What sort of skills does it take to be a good origami artist?
SM: It’s an advantage if you have certain engineering or problem-solving skills, as far as designing goes, but when it comes to shaping and forming it’s more like sculptural work. Sculptural work is either additive—you add something, like clay, or it’s subtractive—you knock away rock. But origami is different in that way—it’s just transformative. So it’s kind of a different skill, but I think if you’re good at sculpting clay, you’ll probably be okay with sculpting paper.

HK: What would you like to see in the world of origami in the near future?
SM: There are so many brilliant, bright people doing origami, and most people so far have focused on trying to make stuff that is more and more realistic or complex, but for me it’s more about trying to get a new direction of origami, trying to convey ideas and concepts rather than just depicting reality, which has been the tradition for such a long time. What origami needs to do is transfer into the fine art world, where you deal with contemporary problems.

Mabona’s work will be on display at Telford Plaza, 33 Wai Yip St., Kowloon Bay, as part of its Chinese New Year décor until Feb 12.