Unfolding: The Paper Art and Science of Matthew Shlian

Matthew Shlian is a paper engineer and artist who has explored the potential of paper for experimentation, creating beautiful and unexpected sculptures. His first comprehensive monograph, 'Unfolding,' celebrates the humble material, on the edge of its existence, elevated to timeless form and possibility.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 09 February 2023
Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd

Paper engineer and artist Matthew Shlian has always recognized the materials potential for experimentation. Folded, tessellated, compressed, extrapolated, two-dimensional paper becomes three-dimensional sculpture in beautiful and unexpected ways.

'My process is extremely varied from piece to piece. Often I start without a clear goal in mind, working within a series of limitations. For example, on one piece, I'll only use curved folds, or make my lines this length or that angle, etc. Other times, I begin with an idea for movement and try to achieve that shape or form somehow.

Unfolding is Shlian's first comprehensive monograph. A journey into the new possibilities of folding technology, the intricate complexities of Islamic patterns, and the sheer potential offered by a sheet of white paper, it celebrates a humble material, on the edge of its existence, elevated to timeless form and possibility.

Weight: 1348g
Dimension: 256 x 257 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780500296981