Hi Hans, Thank you for your interesting contributions regarding the wording itself.
As long as the need is to be recognised as Artists by the Art world (capital letter), to be admitted to exhibitions and shows, I do not believe that the issue is merely a wording issue. On the contrary, I believe that the words 'Art' and 'Artist', when linked by us to Origami, are mostly used with the meaning of Art with a capital A. >From memory, I can say that this has been a trend in recent years. If it were purely a question of wording, I think it would have existed 20 years ago as well. Moreover, let me say that in Italian (my mother tongue), "piegatura della carta" is very rare and too generic (I just saw it in the first books about craft from the last century), and the term "origami" is much more widespread, especially nowadays. Perhaps in Spain or Germany, 'papel plegado' or 'papier falten' is more explanatory, I don't know, but I tend to believe that this was true a few decades ago, whereas today the word 'origami' is widely used and known. Finally, in Italian, to define someone who folds (or creates) origami, we widely use 'Origamista' (Origamist), and this word is not at all rare, whereas, on the contrary, we never use 'Artista Origami' (or at least in 30+ years I have practically never heard it mentioned, (apart, of course, from those very few cases of people who explicitly want to identify themselves as artists). The same thing in German: I have never heard Origami-Künstler, while Papierfalter is very common (i.e., even in this language, you do not have to resort to 'Origami Artist' to identify an origamist, even if He/She creates Origami). Regards, Lorenzo On Sun, 14 Sept 2025 at 06:57, Papirfoldning.dk <[email protected]> wrote: > About the term "origami artist": I believe it appears because of how the > English language is formed and that calling yourself an "origami artist" > does not necessarily imply that you believe you are doing Art with a > capital A. > > The word "origami" was successfully introduced by Lillian Oppenheimer as a > brand name for paper folding. I like how the name is used across all > languages I know of, and I like the branding part. However, the term has a > couple of downsides, too. > > One is that "Origami" incorporates the material (paper) and the technique > (folding) into one word, and that is a limitation. I do not consider myself > a "paper artist", but a "folder", and will happily fold in other materials. > The same way that a painter or a sculptor do not imply the materials used > for painting or sculpting. Note that qualifying the artist form with the > material can be used, like in "oil painter". See the ChatGPT lookup at the > end of the mail. > > Another is that common people do not know the word, whereas they do know > the native words like "paper folding" in English, "papirfoldning" in > Danish, "piegatura della carta" in Italian or "plegado de papel" in > Spanish. I treat "origami" and "papirfoldning" synonymously, and I use > questions such as "what is oregano?" as a prompt to talk about origami, but > sometimes it would be nice if people just knew the term out of the box. > > For the current discussion, a third downside is that as a new noun there > is no verb and no derived profession name. For instance, if you make a > painting, you paint and you are a painter. If you make sculptures, you > sculpt and you are a sculptor. However, if you make origami, you ??? and > you are a ???. In such cases, English language uses the construction "[art > form] artist" cf. the list at the end of my mail. > > "Origami artist" is precisely that linguistic form. Had we stuck to "paper > folding", we would have called ourselves "folders", or perhaps "paper > folders". Now that looses the connection to the brand, "origami", and also > "folder" are not common enough to be recognised by the public as an > established profession or crafting discipline. "Origamist" is sometimes > tentatively used, but feels clumsy as it is a really rare word. > > Hence you may end up using "origami artist" without actually implying what > you make is Art with a capital A. Just like if you (or a small child) are > painting, you are a painter without implying that you are making Art - > whether that painting is walls or illustrations or something else. > > Best regards, > Hans > > *Results provided by ChatGPT-5* > Commonly used “[something] artist” > • performance artist – creates live, often experimental art events. > • conceptual artist – focuses on the idea rather than the object. > • visual artist – broad term for artists working in visual media. > • digital artist – creates art using digital tools. > • multimedia artist – works with multiple media (video, sound, > installation). > • video artist – works with video as an artistic medium. > • installation artist – creates large, site-specific works. > • street artist – creates art in public spaces (graffiti, murals). > • graphic artist – works in graphic design, illustration, or visual > communication. > • commercial artist – produces art for advertising or applied purposes. > • makeup artist – applies makeup for theater, film, fashion, etc. > • tattoo artist – creates permanent designs on skin. > • martial artist – practitioner of martial arts (less “artistic,” but > same form). > > Less common but attested > • sound artist – explores sound as an art form (outside traditional > music). > • light artist – works with light installations or projections. > • fiber artist – works with textiles and fiber materials. > • ceramic artist – works with clay/ceramics, instead of just “potter.” > • glass artist – works with glass as medium. > • body artist – uses the body itself as medium (painting, piercing, > performance). > • collage artist – specializes in collage. > • found-object artist – works with ready-made materials. > > Patterns > • These terms are often used when: > 1. The medium is newer (digital, video, performance). > 2. The practice is broader or cross-disciplinary (visual, multimedia). > 3. The traditional craft word doesn’t quite exist or feels too narrow. > > *How is the usage of [material] + [artist form]? Answer by ChatGPT-5* > 1. The default is the role name > • painter, sculptor, photographer, printmaker → the base profession. > > 2. Material/medium qualifiers > > Artists are often described by medium, especially when it’s important to > distinguish their practice: > • oil painter – used, though not as common as painter; usually in bios or > descriptions (“She is an oil painter from Chicago”). > • watercolorist – here, the medium has its own word rather than > watercolor painter. > • acrylic painter – fairly common. > • charcoal artist – sometimes charcoal drawing artist or just charcoal > artist. > • pastel artist – also common. > • digital painter – clear distinction from traditional painting. > • bronze sculptor, stone sculptor, ceramic sculptor – standard ways to > mark the material. > • glass artist, ceramic artist, fiber artist – here the [material] + > artist form is more natural than sculptor. > > 3. Frequency and register > • For painting, “oil painter” and “acrylic painter” are used, but not > constantly; many bios just say painter, then mention the medium later. > • For drawing, qualifiers like pencil artist, ink artist, charcoal artist > are fairly common online, especially in portfolios. > • For sculpture, qualifying by material is very common: wood sculptor, > bronze sculptor, stone sculptor. > > 4. When it’s not used > • Some older, well-established forms developed their own nouns (etcher, > engraver, watercolorist) instead of [material] painter. > • Saying oil artist would sound odd — it’s always oil painter. > > > Hans Dybkjær > http://papirfoldning.dk > Society: http://foldning.dk > -- Lorenzo Lucioni Duesseldorf - Germany [email protected]
