Paula Pietranera: The Art of Connection

I create sculptural paintings rooted in the ancient traditions of Japanese paper-folding and ink-painting. They are born of a deep human need for connection and intimate contemplation. I invite the viewer to come closer, slow down, and explore.

My studies in architecture, Zen, and art deeply permeate my work, which emerges from the interplay of technical precision and deep sensitivity. My practice draws from the centuries-old renzuru technique, one of the most complex forms of Japanese paper-folding.

Renzuru, literally “conjoined cranes,” consists of creating interconnected cranes folded from a single sheet of paper. The paper is cut but only in a very specific way, creating a grid of attached squares that can be folded without separating. Each crane is distinct yet part of a continuous whole, physically linked through wing, tail, or beak.

The materials I work with—washi, a type of Japanese paper perfected through generations, and sumi, a traditional ink—carry memory and time within them. These elements converge in a modern expression of contemporary art, bridging cultures and time. East, West, past, and present come together in the intimate subtlety of each brushstroke and fold.

I turn to the thirteenth-century Zen master Eihei Dogen, who said: “To study the way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to become one with the universe.” For me, in my art, this means “Think the fold. Be the fold. Forget the fold.”

My art is an invitation not to step back and understand but to come closer and feel. To engage with what is minimal, subtle, and almost hidden within the work and within oneself. This is what inspires me, because intimate togetherness with oneself, with others, and with the world can be our deepest yearning and also our greatest fear. It is here, in quiet stillness, that connection can begin to unfold.

1,000 wishes, 1,000 Cranes

2021, 54″ x 54″, washi paper and ink.
Background: acrylic painting by Kazuaki Tanahashi

This piece was inspired by the Japanese tale that says a thousand folded paper cranes can grant a wish. Pietranera made one thousand cranes and spiraled them over an *enso* by calligrapher and Buddhist scholar Kazuaki Tanahashi.

*1,000 Wishes, 1,000 Cranes* was created during the pandemic. Pietranera invited a thousand people—most through social media—to send her a wish. She transcribed each wish onto a connected square of a single large sheet of paper and then folded the squares into cranes.

GAZE

2021, 18″ x 22″, washi paper and sumi ink.

This piece evokes the dual nature of existence—light and shadow, presence and absence—each arising through the other. White washi paper and black sumi ink become an expression of balance, not fixed but continually unfolding.

Igneo

2024, 18″ x 22″, washi paper and sumi ink.

This piece is from Pietranera’s series called Hi, Japanese for “fire.” Japanese sumi ink is made from soot, carrying within it the residue of flame, she explains. “What once burned becomes mark and gesture.”

DO

2025, 20″ x 48″, washi paper and indigo ink.

This piece is from Pietranera’s series *Aware*, Japanese for the poignant recognition of impermanence. “The awareness of transience heightens presence, care, and attention, arising in relationship with nature, with others, with time itself,” Pietranera says.

It requires patience and precision to cut and fold a paper—sometimes ten or twelve feet long—using the *renzuru* technique. Depending on the complexity of the project, it can take days, weeks, or months. Each fold affects the ones that follow, and the paper must be handled with great care throughout.

Paula Pietranera

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Paula Pietranera trained in the renzuru origami technique in Japan and now resides at the San Francisco Zen Center. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is held in collections worldwide.