Today we’d like to introduce you to Joan Son.
Hi Joan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ve always been crazy about paper. As a child folding fortune tellers and using them to divine a future was exciting. And it was magical to make tissue paper carnations transforming a 2D tissue into a 3D object. As a 9 year old I spent days designing paper doll dresses, my first FLOW experience. Then my best friend taught me to fold an origami crane. I’d found the magic again! For years that’s all I folded until my mother died and a beautiful origami book nearly jumped off the shelf at the bookstore. I devoted every Sunday learning the difficult diagrams. I loved geometry as a teenager so this art suited me well. I joined Origami USA in 1991 and began attending their conventions in New York City.
In my first commercial origami assignment I created art for the windows of Tiffany & Co. in the Houston Galleria, 1993. Afterwards the Houston Museum of Natural Science commissioned me to make butterfly art and pins for their new Cockrell Butterfly Center. The Smithsonian Museum Shops in Washington D.C. followed with orders for my origami gift art to accompany a Japanese Kimono exhibition.
After more than 30 years this trajectory has lead me to museum exhibitions, artist commissions and various assignments including origami instruction with The Menil Collection.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Early on it was a challenge to experience the attitude that origami was just for kids and not a real art form. This lack of acceptance was an obstacle for me. My chosen way in the art world was not recognized as serious. Things began to change when the documentary film BETWEEN THE FOLDS came out in 2008. It explored the intersection of paper folding, modern art and science. It gave me incentive to continue my passion.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My early professional work began by designing catalogs for Foley’s Department Stores in the 1980’s and 90’s. Art direction, photo styling and graphics were my assignments. Years of that work evolved and when it ended my childhood love of origami returned and I was invited to design the windows for Tiffany & Co. Opportunities came forward to teach and to exhibit my art and sell my work to museum shops. It was my goal to move from the gift shop into the Museum. I was able to do that with exhibitions at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Stark Museum of Art in Orange, Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts in Spring, Ellen Noel Art Museum in Odessa, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, The Printing Museum in Houston and a recent exhibition at the Dishman Art Museum on the Lamar University campus in Beaumont, 2025 titled PART GEOMETRY• PART ZEN. Along the way, and for 28 years, my Montrose studio has been home to a Holiday Sale with many of my artists friends participating.
My current work involves abstracting my photography. My process starts by enhancing the photo with painting or colored pencil, treat with acrylic, cut into squares, fold each piece, unfold and reassemble the photo. It is my intention to reveal the luminous in the sculptural surface and to support the ‘re-enchantment’ of our natural world.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
I’ve been directed by Agnes Martin, one of my favorite artists, to have “obedience to inspiration.” To live through the doubt I often feel when creating something new. To be obedient to the vision and to continue the work. I also love this quote from Carl Jung which asks a significant question, “What did you do as a child that made the hours go like minutes? Herein lies the key to your earthly pursuits.”
Having personal communication with my clients and friends is essential to my authentic creative life. I use a monthly NEWSLETTER to keep folks informed of my current projects, exhibitions coming up and how I’m navigating this brave new world through my art. If you’d like to receive those please email me at joanson23@gmail.com.You will only get one a month. Thank you!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.joanson.com
- Instagram: joansonart
- Other: joanson23@gmail.com
