Turning books into three-dimensional pieces of art—the magic of an up-and-coming book folding artist, D.Hinklay.

There is an artist who has mastered the craft of book folding, by which one creates a three-dimensional piece of art from a single book—his name is D.Hinklay, a.k.a. Hinky. We asked the artist about his unique creations inspired by origami, which he has always loved since he was little.

Book folding is an art form in which one creates a wide variety of three-dimensional works by folding the pages of thick books by the millimeter. Its method varies by artist, and D.Hinklay creates his works without ever cutting the paper, just like how traditional Japanese origami pieces are made. He also shows his creation process on social media, such as Instagram and YouTube, and has over one million followers on Instagram.

D.Hinklay had always had a love of creating things ever since he was little. It was eleven years ago that he began his journey as a book folding artist when he was in college. He intuitively felt that he might be able to “become the number one in the world in this field” by leveraging his manual dexterity.

D.Hinklay in his iconic look with a mask, sunglasses, and a hat. (Creator D.Hinklay)

His creates his works just by folding pages without cutting them. (Creator D.Hinklay)

By marking all pages down to the millimeter, he gives a round, three-dimensional shape to his works. (Creator D.Hinklay)

“I’d like to pursue creating works that are beyond everyone’s imagination,” says D.Hinklay. He has created over 600 pieces of book folding works so far. His works are sold in forty different countries, and he has been holding solo exhibitions not only in Japan, but also in Taipei, Taiwan. Overseas fans account for about 90% of his entire fan base.

He takes about five to twelve hours to make a single work while paying a meticulous attention to detail. (Creator D.Hinklay)

（Creator D.Hinklay）

He is highly acclaimed also for works made by folding a single piece of paper, instead of a book. (Creator D.Hinklay)

D.Hinklay—an artist who is continuing to spread the charm of book folding across borders through social media. You will get to see his extraordinary creations at “D.HINKLAY BOOK FOLDING AND ORIGAMI,” an event that will be held at Mori Art Museum Shop on the third floor of the Roppongi Hills from May 2 to 20, as well as at a group exhibition titled “Watashitachino Oudo: Middle of the Road” (“Watashitachino Oudo” means “our classic way”) that will be held at Daimaru Tokyo from May 22 to 28. Additionally, his solo exhibition titled “FOLD and NON-MEANING” will be held in Shibuya, Tokyo from June 28 to 30. We highly recommend that you go see for yourself these meticulously-crafted true book folding works.

■DATA ▼D.Hinklay D.Hinklay Official Online Store：https://dhinklay.com/ Instagram：https://www.instagram.com/d.hinklay/ YouTube：https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbBDwLzqtGifyc_zJL9Q1ww/videos TikTok：https://www.tiktok.com/@d.hinklay?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc ▼D.HINKLAY BOOK FOLDING AND ORIGAMI Dates: Thursday, May 2, 2024 – Monday, May 20, 2024 Venue: Mori Art Museum Shop Address: Roppongi Hills West Walk 3F, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo ▼Watashitachino Oudo: Middle of The Road Dates: Tuesday, May 22, 2024 – Monday, May 28, 2024 Venue: Art gallery on the 10F of Daimaru Tokyo Address: 10F, 1-9-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Admission: Free of charge ▼FOLD and NON-MEANING Dates: Friday, June 28, 2024, from 5:00 p.m. to 9 p.m. (By invitation only) Saturday, June 29, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 30, from noon to 4 p.m. Venue: Studio Sola Shibuya Address: Jinnan R Building B1F, 1-3-10 Jinnan, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 7 min. from Shibuya Station and 9 min. from Harajuku Station on foot Admission: Free of charge

(Information as of April 2024.)