Today's News

04-22-2003 | University Relations

Student's paper bugs on exhibit

Yong-Lak Park has taken a page from his heritage and combined it with his hobby and chosen career. The result is insect origami -- pieces of paper intricately folded and refolded until they resemble bugs of all kinds.

Park, an Iowa State graduate assistant in entomology, will exhibit his work from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, April 22 through late May, in the Conservatory Complex at Reiman Gardens. The exhibit, called "A Paper Bug's Life," includes 33 insects Park has created since he arrived in Ames four years ago, along with thousands of origami butterflies and dragonflies created by the Entomology Graduate Student Organization.

Almost all of the bugs created by Park for the exhibit are Iowa insects. They include dragonflies, grasshoppers, stink bugs, termites, house flies, deer flies, fire flies and click beetles.

Park's interest in origami goes back to when his teachers in South Korea folded paper to demonstrate geometry and mathematics. He started creating his own cubic structures, and by the time he reached Ames, he was ready for the most difficult origami challenge of all -- folding insects. Each of his insects takes two to three months to create.

Park considers himself a "cultural ambassador" for "one of the most popular cultural practices in Korea and Japan, origami or folding 'on' papers 'gami.'"

His exhibit is "a unique insect exhibition that allows you to feel an ancient Asian secret embedded in Korean culture," Park said. "For the exhibition, I tried to transfer some entomological knowledge through artistic orgami."

More of Park's origami is featured on the Department of Entomology's Web site.