Paper Artists 

Each piece is inspired by paper. Kevin Box works with origami artists Te Jui Fu, Beth Johnson, Michael G. LaFosse, and Robert J. Lang to create origami paper models, usually using only one uncut piece of paper. Using the techniques of lost-wax casting and fabrication, the sculptures in this exhibit glorify the precision of origami in stately museum-quality metals. 

Lost Wax Casting 

In the beginning, Box had to do every exhausting step of the process himself. Today, he still begins every piece with a blank page and manages it through what he calls a “very simple 35-step, 12-week process. On a good day. If everything goes right.” With the help of a foundry, pieces are cast in bronze, aluminum or stainless steel, depending on the design requirements. 

By experimenting directly with paper and wax and working in a lost wax foundry for several years, Box developed a process specifically for paper that captures all its intimate details. The technique took Box two years of tireless experimentation in Austin, Texas to develop and seven years of further development with a foundry in Thailand to perfect the process where the original sculpture medium is paper. 

Fabrication 

As Box translated his early paper creations into metal sculpture, he was struck by the geometric quality of the crease marks in the folded sheets of paper. He could see that the clean lines, angles, and flat planes could lend themselves to fabrication. Cutting and welding sheet metal in replication of his paper sculpture would allow him to scale up to sizes not feasible with casting in bronze.