Rachel Quinlan

Statement

This work comprises four related origami tessellations, each folded from one sheet. They have recognizable similarities and clear differences - only one has 6-fold rotational symmetry, two have reflections and two do not. They represent four of the five plane periodic symmetry systems that include 3-fold rotations. All originate from a model of the fifth such pattern, the regular hexagonal tiling. The four models can be physically and reversibly interchanged, by adjusting the directions of existing pleats. The experience of folding them, and adjusting one to another, brings a physical immediacy to the geometric constraints that classify and distinguish the seventeen symmetry systems of plane tessellations, known as the wallpaper patterns.

Artworks

These four panes are part of a wider project, that involves (multiple) origami tessellations realizing each of the 17 wallpaper groups, which classify the distinct symmetry systems of periodic plane tessellations. The project explores the relationships between the distinct wallpaper patterns by physically redirecting existing creases in origami models, transforming the symmetry group from one to another. For example, one might eliminate some or all reflections in such a move, or reduce 6-fold to 3-fold rotations. Because of the reversible nature of such steps. and the (subjective) aesthetic appeal of the finished models, origami provides an exceptionally rich environment for exploration of the wallpaper groups.