BASEL.- In Japan, the art of paper folding; Origami – is a spiritual practice, a meditation on transience and form. Katja Strunz adds a new dimension to this long history of folding in art – one that goes far beyond a purely formal exploration. Her new series of works combines the ancient practice of folding with cutting-edge satellite images, creating a tension between micro and macro perspectives, tradition and technology.
Explore the poetic and complex world of Katja Strunz's abstract sculptures and installations. Click here to discover "Katja Strunz" on Amazon and delve into her unique reinterpretation of 20th-century modern art.
The satellite images depict Earth in its vulnerable beauty, but also in its fragmentation: deforested landscapes, dwindling riverbeds, and traces of human intervention. These images, originally conceived as analytical tools, undergo a transformative artistic process in Strunz’s hands.
Here begins the actual act: folding. Strunz folds the images as if resisting their rigid narratives. Through this physical reshaping, new connections emerge between details and larger structures. Boundaries that seem self-evident in everyday life dissolve. The clear lines of a river blur into industrial landscapes.
Strunz’s folds are not acts of destruction but attempts to interweave order and chaos, past and future. In In Formation, folding becomes a central motif; not just as a physical act, but as a conceptual model.
A key starting point for Strunz’s considerations is the recently published book The Folded World by physicist Anders Levermann. For him, folding represents an alternative to linear growth: it opens up new possibilities by transforming the existing and promoting diversity instead of progress at all costs. In theoretical physics, particularly in the study of dynamic systems and chaos theory, folding describes the phenomenon of recognizing boundaries and adapting to them. A surface can grow infinitely within a limited space if it is folded. Folds always arise at points of transition; when a boundary is reached, and a new direction must be taken. Applied to human development, this principle reveals a multitude of opportunities to find new paths and continue evolving within existing constraints. Thus, folding does not signify stagnation but dynamic transformation and growth.
Strunz embraces and makes this idea tangible. Her works are not static objects yet represent dynamic processes. They point to the cyclical interplay of rigidity and movement found in nature and the human body. The parallels to trauma therapy, as outlined by Peter A. Levine and cited in Strunz’s work, are striking: only through the conscious processing of tension can new growth unfold.
Katja Strunz’s works invite us to view the world from a different perspective; from the vastness of space to the intimacy of paper. They remind us that every fold tells a story, that every boundary is permeable, and that the world, no matter how fragmented it may seem, can always be refolded anew.
The artist wishes to thank Planet Labs PBC for generously providing the satellite images. Parts of the exhibition were created during the Paper Residency Berlin fellowship, with gratitude extended to the Haus des Papiers.
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