Visual Studies
Material and colour exploration — how one handmade paper form shifts in mood, depth, and atmosphere through light and colour.
Folded Structure Study — a first-year foundation project in Visual Studies at OCAD University.
Using an origami-based paper structure, spray-painted surfaces, and controlled lighting, I explored how shadows, reflections, and layered colour could transform the same form into different visual outcomes.
One form, built by hand
I built a three-dimensional composition from folded paper, using repetition, balance, and structural variation to create a form that could be studied from multiple angles. Spray-painted colour came next — testing how surface treatment could change the reading of the object without altering its construction.
The same form, four readings
Lighting became a second material: shadow, highlight, and contrast created new relationships between planes and edges. I photographed the structure under different colour and lighting conditions to document the range of visual effects a single handmade form can produce.
From physical experiment to image-making
The project became an early exercise in translating physical experimentation into image-making, helping me understand form as something shaped equally by material, light, and perception.
Although simple in material, the study opened up broader questions about atmosphere, colour interaction, and how small formal changes can produce dramatically different visual results.
