My Favorite Works: Satoshi Kamiya’s Cicada Nymph

by Marcus

Part 0: Introduction

The chief appeal of an origami insect, above all else, is difficulty. This manifests itself in two ways, one internal and one external. Internally, origami insects present us with a challenge, an opportunity for folders to hone their technical skills. Insects and other arthropods are rife with sinks, wraparounds, collapses, and other difficult maneuvers, and are very rewarding to successfully complete. The demands of insects on one’s paper are also great, and insects are often what drives folders to seek out specialized paper. Externally, insects make good showpieces, and many an ambitious young folder–myself included–has shown one to a friend or classmate precisely for that “Wow!” factor. Origami insects fascinate others, especially as they become more complex and naturalistic. The more inconceivable the result, the more powerful its impact becomes.

 

But rarely, an insect model comes along which feels different. It transcends being a mere showpiece or even a lifelike recreation of an insect. It is packed full of ingenious and origamistic design techniques, and more details seem to appear every time one looks at it. Many complex origami works can inspire awe upon a first viewing, but few make a truly lasting impression. For me, one of the few exceptions is none other than Satoshi Kamiya’s Cicada Nymph.

 

Part 1: Structure

To fully appreciate this model, it is essential to understand the structure of most origami insect models. The standard insect requires eight flaps: one for the head, one for the abdomen, and six for the legs. In origami, a common solution to this problem comes in the form of the Blintzed Frog Base.

 

The base possesses nine flaps, not eight, but it is still a reasonable base to use for several reasons. First, one can use the ninth flap to add extra details to a model, allowing more complex insects to be made. Second, it is simple and highly symmetric, and all the angles are integer divisions of a 90° angle. Third – and perhaps least obviously – the base is extremely flexible in its structure and its proportions can be tweaked and refined to accommodate a wide variety of insects. Let’s look at some examples.

 

The Walking Stick by Manuel Sirgo Álvarez keeps the basic structure of the Blintzed Frog Base, but repeatedly sinks the flaps for a thinner body; he also uses point-splitting on the head to create antennae and uses the extra flaps for texturing purposes.

The Black Ant, also by Sirgo Álvarez, swaps out two corners for sunken Waterbomb Bases, giving each leg (mostly) uniform width.

 

The Praying Mantis by Michael LaFosse uses a distorted version, shifting the center of the model and altering the lengths of the legs as a result.

(Shaping unfortunately incomplete because my paper sucks and it ripped)

 

Robert Lang’s Hercules Beetle enacts several transformations: he shifts the center point, box-pleats the two resulting rectangles, and performs a few sinks on both the squares.

 

 

All told, the Blintzed Frog Base is an archetypal, tried-and-true structure for designing origami insects. But it has its limitations. Every flap has the exact same length, which doesn’t work for every insect. There also isn’t much paper to use for extra wings, horns, or other features, so this structure only works for sufficiently simple insects. These first two problems can be mitigated such as in several of the above designs. But the biggest problem is the middle flap, which is large, clunky, and hard to shape. In most cases, it ends up forming the abdomen of the model, which is typically the thickest part of a real insect. But this is still far from an ideal solution, and it is often dealt with somewhat awkwardly.

 

What makes Kamiya’s model unique is the way he confronts, analyzes, and reinvents this structure. The Cicada Nymph is derived from the following base:

It looks kind of like the Blintzed Frog Base, but it isn’t. (It bears some similarities, in fact, to the Blintzed Bird Base.) The eight corner and edge flaps are the same, but the middle flap is blunter and wider than in the Blintzed Frog Base. And this is the one tiny change that solves everything, because the next thing Kamiya does is this:

He spread-sinks the top point, revealing four more points: the corners of the middle flap itself! These become the short, stubby wings of the cicada in its nymphal form, solving two problems at once. Not only is the middle flap used in a creative way, but the abdomen can instead be formed from the edge. Indeed, Kamiya performs numerous small pleats on the abdomen that would be impossible with a middle flap. This is a remarkable solution to an age-old problem, and furthermore, it’s uniquely tailored to this specific insect. The Cicada Nymph might well rank among my favorite origami models for this reason alone. But as it turns out, Kamiya isn’t even close to being done.

 

Part 2: Border Grafts

 

One of the key problems with origami as a medium is the single-sheet rule: everything that’s in the final model must come out of the one piece of paper you start with. So if you have a model that’s lacking in a few small details, how do you add them in? One common way is known as grafting: adding strips to the crease pattern of a base that can be used for detail work, while keeping the underlying structure the same.

 

Because the final sheet must still be a square, many grafts are placed on the edges or diagonals of a square in order to maintain its proportions. As an example, Robert Lang has designed a songbird out of a border-grafted Bird Base. The grafted area reaches around all four corners, becoming a beak, four-toed claws, and a larger tail.

Again, this is a technique used by numerous folders. Yet Kamiya still manages to put a unique spin on it, in a manner uniquely suited to this model. The Cicada Nymph’s base does utilize a border graft, but a somewhat unorthodox one:

Notice the changes from the original base. The modified Blintzed Frog Base has shrunken relative to the sheet, and no longer touches the corners–but it does still touch one of the edges. The border graft, instead of surrounding four sides, surrounds three. And to keep the model square, one of the sides has a graft with twice the thickness. Why do it this way? Because that’s exactly what a cicada nymph needs! The legs of a cicada nymph are not identical: the two front legs are larger and equipped with prominent claws, while the four hind legs are thinner and have small claws at the ends. The border graft changes size with respect to the demands of the leg flaps. Furthermore, the head (placed at the top) takes advantage of the extended graft to form mouthparts, while the abdomen (placed at the bottom) does not need a border graft, and the model benefits from wasting less paper.

 

Once more, Kamiya makes a small shift to a common technique, and thus creates a unique, original concept for an origami model. Yet again, the shift is prompted by the form of the cicada nymph, which demands subtle yet critical modifications to the base. This as well as the modified Blintzed Frog Base demonstrate Kamiya’s understanding of origami structure and his insistence on defying norms. And yet he is still not quite finished. For his final act, Kamiya transforms the base and creates a truly remarkable and original model in the process. The shaping of the Cicada Nymph is a particularly unique case among origami models and is worth examining in more detail.

 

Part 3: Space

 

So far, we’ve looked at the base of this model, which is thoroughly creative and deserves much praise. But an origami model is more than just a base, and it should be asked: how does Kamiya shape his model? Elegantly, as always, and with no shortage of clever tricks that take full advantage of the paper available to him.

 

Brian Chan has satirically described the three-step process of folding complex models: “precrease, collapse, and shape.” The first two are typically where the base is formed, and the third is where the base is turned into the final model. The model also typically remains largely flat for the first two steps, only becoming three-dimensional once shaping folds are added. But I say typical and not universal, because Kamiya ends up subverting this too. In the Cicada Nymph, the very line between collapsing and shaping is blurred, resulting in a fascinating ending sequence with truly unexpected results.

 

The three-dimensionality begins when the legs are folded out at a 90° angle to the body, forming a T-shape:

The model is now three-dimensional, but it’s unstable. It has too many points of flexibility and would be difficult to shape effectively. The solution, surprisingly enough, lies in the border graft. To lock the legs in place, Kamiya takes a flap and tucks it in between the layers of the graft. This also solves another weakness of grafts, which is the paper that isn’t in the corners hardly ever gets any use.

 

The legs are then folded out to the sides, stably separated from the body. At this point, the model is finished structurally, with only shaping left to complete.

 

Three-dimensional shaping often requires specialized paper, either foil-backed or sized and wet-folded, to be maintained. Due to its secure locking system, the Cicada Nymph doesn’t; in fact, from my own experience, one can produce a passable rendition of the model with nothing but ten-inch kami. This is a rare statement in the field of insect folding, and an extremely rare one given Kamiya’s reputation for complexity. But Kamiya is more than just a maker of elaborate, virtuosic showpieces. This model is not only designed in a novel way, but in such a way that it can be folded from ordinary origami paper. I hesitate to describe the model as accessible–it is still a technically formidable one–but it requires no extra time or money spent on paper or paper treatments, so commonly used among elite origami artists today. So in addition to all its other achievements, it stands out as an equalizer among complex models. What other model, I ask, can claim so many titles at once?

 

Part 4: Conclusion

 

The Cicada Nymph is my favorite origami insect, and it might just be my favorite Satoshi Kamiya design as well. The model uses every square centimeter of the paper efficiently and elegantly. Its structure is familiar but original; it retains a simple origamistic base yet fits its subject matter well. Kamiya turns origami clichés on their heads, using the specific physical requirements of the cicada nymph to devise unique solutions to classic problems. It does all of this while still being an attractive and realistic model of a cicada nymph, the most important criterion of all.

 

Understanding this model has also informed the way I create some of my own works. The Cicada Nymph has taught me a great deal about origamistic structures, and I would recommend any aspiring designer to fold and analyze it. It stands as a pinnacle of the origami insect form and a landmark design by Kamiya. It is perhaps even more representative of his design skills than, for instance, the Phoenix or the notorious Ryujin 3.5. It is a shame indeed that the Cicada Nymph is far less famous than either of those two. Someday, though, I hope it will get its due, and the world of origami will appreciate this model as much as it deserves.

 

 

If you’re wondering, this is absolutely going to be a recurring series on my blog; I have several more models I’d love to gush over and I can’t wait to write about them all. But until then, keep folding and keep reading about folding, and I’ll see you in the next post!

 

Sources

 

Kamiya, Satoshi. “Works of Satoshi Kamiya 2.” Gallery Origami House, Tokyo, Japan, 2012.

Sirgo Alvarez, Manuel. “Origami Menagerie.” Dover Publications, Mineola, NY, 2006.

LaFosse, Michael. “Advanced Origami.” Tuttle Publishing, North Clarendon, VT, 2005.

Lang, Robert J. Origami Insects and their Kin.” Dover Publications, Mineola, NY, 1995.

Lang, Robert J. Origami Design Secrets, 2^nd edition. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2012.