Picture of artist Nickie Romanuck's origami birds at MHPL.--Submitted Photo
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
The origami art exhibition at the Medicine Hat Public Library has been extended until May 1.
Artist Nickie Romanuck brought to life more than 100 small birds, pegasi and flying fairies out of meticulous folded paper, all placed within various bird cages and on display on the lower levels of the library.
Romanuck has been doing origami on and off for several years, picking it up more regularly at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. While she finds it soothing, she often struggles with what to do with the finished product.
“Origami is really nice to do, but you’re left with just a model of, say, an animal or something, it just sits there,” said Romanuck. “And I wanted some way to display them and have them in character. She had done shadow boxes for Police Point prior, but enjoyed this challenge of figuring out how to make the static models come to life.
Many of her recent model books have been in Japanese, making selecting and putting the models together a unique challenge, but it has been worth it, says Romanuck, as she’s received positive feedback from friends, family and library visitors, stating that the works made them smile.
“That’s one of the best responses you can have, that they make people smile,” said Romanuck.
A closing reception for the exhibition will be held May 1 at 7 p.m.
