Collin Crowder, an art student at Auburn University, has put in numerous hours into his origami work. His work was officially put in an exhibit in Biggin Hall on Oct. 2, 2023.
Crowder’s work includes intricate designs of animals and different shape compositions. Influential origami artists such as Leksi Chen and Ardia Pons regard him to be as good as they are in the craft.
Crowder has accumulated a niche following on social media. His following not only includes origami lovers, but it includes other artists such as Joe Adia as well.
His current exhibit in the basement of Biggin Hall has one of the most intricate origami creations in the world. The crayfish is widely known in the origami community as one of the hardest folds to complete.
This image shows a template Crowder utilized to design one of his origami creations.
“It depends on how you look at it," Crowder said. "The lobster was intricate, but the most sloppily done out of all of them. I might say the crayfish that I designed was the most intricate because it has the most weird techniques that I was able to successfully do for all of it."
Crowder also designs his own templates and once he finishes the design, he begins his folding. Along with making his own templates, he also follows some that he finds online. He shares his templates with his Instagram followers, as well as the outcomes from these designs on his page.
“The templates are harder [to complete] to be honest. Designing it takes twice as long to make it once you’ve designed it,” Crowder said. “They’re completely different processes really because you’re following these algorithms to fold the paper to certain areas of a finished model. Once you get that finished and you’re actually folding, it’s more straightforward in comparison.”
His work includes no cuts or tears, just creases. These folds may take hours or even months to complete depending on how intricate the design is.
“Honestly, I’ve gotten quicker at folding than I used to be," Crowder said. "The super large ones – that I rarely do – take almost 100 hours, but the average is around 30 hours."
Origami isn’t the only form of art that Crowder takes part in. He also does oil painting, and he practices music as a hobby.
“I started oil painting in freshman year of high school; my mom’s an artist, so I got into it through her," Crowder said. "Music is more of a hobby. [They're] all hobbies, but I don’t take music as seriously as other things. It’s more for fun."
Crowder is proud to have his work exhibited on the University's campus. He encouraged students to explore the world of origami if they were interested in it.
“It was really exciting but a little scary but a really cool experience. It was cool for people to see it and get some feedback. It’s something that’s so niche and unheard of that it goes unappreciated,” Crowder said. “It’s nice to be able to show people that this is even possible. It’s overlooked in the art world even though you can do so much with it."
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Brychelle Brooks is a sophomore majoring in public and professional writing. She has been with The Plainsman since August 2023.
