Using only one sheet of paper, artist Joel Cooper employs tessellation (a style of origami) to create his paper masks. Cooper’s works often draws inspiration from Roman and Greek tragedies, with the origami piece resembling the faces of Greek gods. He is also influenced by Asian folklore, creating masks that take after Asian stock characters.

Cooper starts creating this complex web of paper strips by folding a grid into is a hexagon shaped piece of paper. After designing the masks, he painstakingly weaves and molds the face into an extraordinary new form. The details of the facemasks are so define and distinct; from the shape of the eyelids to the wrinkles of the face, that no masks look alike. He truly brings the masks to life with the gaze he molds into them. Like a stoic figure these masks take after, the eyes of the face command and pierce. It is quite hard to think about the unvaried medium of the masks when you look at the complexity of the craftsmanship. 

Joel cooper sells his unique masks on Zibbet . 

See more of Joel Cooper’s works here! 

Images courtesy of Joel Cooper via mymodernmet