Papercraft: Extraction Series

"Extraction Series" by Matthew Shlian, 2011

Shlian's work falls in the increasingly nebulous divide between art and engineering. His work is rooted in print media, book arts, and commercial design, but he reportedly finds himself collaborating with a cadre of scientists and researchers who are just beginning to recognize the practical connections between paper folding and folding at microscopic scales.

"With the Extraction Series, the process of moving through space is once again Shlian's starting point. Set within the constraints of a square foundation, the compositions feature the same movements as in the Process Series--an array, a rotation, and an extrusion. But unlike the subdued movement of the Process Series or the bursting energy of the Tessellation Series, these new works exude an uncanny tension, as if the forms were trying to escape the page and the boundaries of the square."