Qin, 31, has an incredible ability, and a driving passion, to bring a piece of paper to life by working and folding it into works of art.

Qin Kun is hungry but he refrains from using his hand to pick a morsel of sushi. He does use his hands, however, for judging and feeling the paper that he shapes into intricate representations of animals and insects.

No scissors, no glue, no cutting, Qin works day and night in this pursuit.

Qin, 31, has an incredible ability, and a driving passion, to bring a piece of paper to life by working and folding it into works of art.

"I keep folding without knowing where I am heading for," Qin said "but then an idea grabs me until it blows my mind."

For years, he toiled on origami pieces alone in his studio in Guilin until one of his works, a paper mantis, was recently sold to a Spanish collector for 210,000 yuan ($31,400).

Some people think it's incredible, they see nothing but a piece of paper transformed by my work, he said.

But collectors who know about origami view it as high art, he added, and most of them are foreigners.

There are about 3 to 4 million people in China who dabble in origami and modern communications and the internet means that they can discuss their hobby and work with even the most skilled practitioner.

It's free to talk to anyone on the internet even those masters who have achieved international fame," Qin said.

Under a nom de guerre of Soma Cruz, Qin posts pictures of his work on the internet, sharing his love of origami with thousands of e-pals.

In 2006 Qin struck up communication over the internet with Eric Joisel, a French sculptor and paper-folding artist, considered among the finest origami masters in the world.

"It's quite amusing for the two of us to exchange ideas in poor English, so most of the time he just showed me how he went about his work on video", said Qin.

Joisel's friendship and encouragement inspired Qin.

Qin took a course in animal science and veterinary medicine at a secondary vocational school in Nanning, capital city of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in 2007, to better understand the "structure of animals".

Born to a tailor's family, Qin showed his talent in primary school.

I had no interest in study, he said, and would fold paper at every opportunity, he said.

He devoted himself to origami after leaving vocational school and quickly produced some amazing work.

His work, like that of any artist, is time consuming.

"Folding takes much longer than you expect, usually dozens of days for a work like the mantis, but if you work on an especially delicate one, then you can only make two or three a year."

Neither can any work be copied, each piece has its own unique character and the intricate detail cannot be repeated.

"Everybody can work out a base according to a crease pattern, but the shaping of the basic figure depends more on talent and creation", explained Qin. "Just think of how to create emotion from paper."

One such piece of work saw the creation of a monkey king, with each hair delicately crafted. After 20 days sweating and concentration, the work was finally completed and it is estimated to be worth more than 1 million yuan.

Among the works he highly values is a dwarf he made in 2014 when he thought he must do something special to mourn the passing of Joisel who died in 2010.

Joisel was renowned for his dwarf series, especially for their gestures, so Qin created a dwarf saluting, in tribute to a man he describes as a selfless origami master.

"Eric passed away, but his style stays. The most valuable lesson he passed on to me was not about folding skills but the universal truth that spending time on things you are not fond of is equal to wasting life."

zhangli@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 09/16/2016 page17)