Margherita Rojas Melo & Michael Caringal

Origami Pop

Origamist

©Andrea Angeli

Vibrant, weightless paper lamps

Margherita and Michael are a couple in life and in craft
Origami Pop is the name of their studio
They use origami and paper sculpture techniques

Founded by Margherita Melo Rojas and Michael Caringal, Origami Pop is a small contemporary craft studio located in Turin. The duo specialises in handcrafting lampshades, lamps, clocks, panels and artistic installations made from paper folded with origami techniques. They also make paper sculptures for which they do carve, cut, fold, and sculpt paper with their hands and glue. Lightweight and resistant, their design objects are characterised by cheerful colours and a pop spirit. Michael and Margherita's creations are made with the utmost respect for sustainability, using exclusively FSC certified Italian paper or recycled paper. Margherita is the creative spark of Origami Pop, expert in origami and paper sculpture techniques, and Michael is the perfect right-hand man, master of precision and measurements.

Interview

©Andrea Angeli

©Andrea Angeli

What is your educational background?: Margherita: Michael has Filipino origins and was born in Milan and trained as a nurse, I am half Italian and half Venezuelan. I lived in South America, I went to high school in Buenos Aires, and was certainly influenced by South American creativity. I worked as a stage seamstress until the Covid outbreak.
What nourishes your creativity?: Margherita: I observe architectural forms, objects, constructions, installations. Colours are also important, I could never exclude them: growing up in South America and seeing the use of colour in furniture and architecture had an impact on my approaches. And then Mirò, Kandinsky, contemporary art, tireless visits to museums.
What makes your work recognisable?: Michael: Our method is innovative. There is a lot of interest in these new practices across contemporary art today. Margherita: In the future I would like to make lamps with fabric origami.
What do you love most about your craft?: Michael: The meditative side, the repetition, along with the creative side. The human rhythm of work, sustainability. Margherita: The contemplative side of planning. It is a job that allows me to express myself. Being able to create three-dimensional works from a two-dimensional sheet thanks to mathematics is magical. To me it has to do with the universe.

Margherita Rojas Melo & Michael Caringal are rising stars they began their career in 2020