Ballerina

This ballerina is my very first original origami design. I created it in 2011 for the International Origami Olympiad as a task dedicated as a contribution to Eric Joisel.
At that time, I was not thinking in terms of style, artistic direction, or personal language in origami. I was simply trying to express a feeling through paper — the lightness, fragility, and quiet strength of a human figure in motion. Looking back, I see this model as the beginning of everything that came later.
The ballerina already carries elements that would continue to shape my work: a focus on character rather than pure geometry, an interest in posture and emotional presence, and the desire to treat paper as a sculptural medium rather than only a technical puzzle. Even in its simplicity, the figure was an attempt to make paper feel alive.
Creating this model as a tribute to Eric Joisel was deeply meaningful. His approach to origami as poetic sculpture — where personality and soul matter more than complexity — influenced me from the very beginning. This first design marks the moment when I started to see origami not only as folding, but as artistic expression.
For me, this ballerina is not just a model. It is the starting point of my creative journey.