Cekouat León Peralta – Capturing Nature in Origami Design

Interview with Cekouat León – EXCERPT

This is an excerpt of a conversation conducted on the day of Halloween, celebrated in the US, Canada, the UK, and other European countries.

This festivity coincides with Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrated in Latin America, especially in Mexico and Central America on Nov 1 and 2. It commemorates and honors the lives of departed family members.

We began by inviting Ceckouat to share several of his skull designs and describe how he developed them.

In addition to sharing many of his charming origami skulls, other topics we touched on in our conversation included:

• His experiences as a special guest at the Argentinian and Mexican origami conventions.
• Growing up in a family of artisans, musicians, and prehispanic dancers.
• How origami helped him overcome grief at age 11.
• How he went from being an interpreter to creating his origami models.
• His motivation to pursue biology in addition to origami as a career.
• How biology and origami intersect in his work.
• Why and how he loves to develop a series of origami figures.
• How he became interested in designing orchids and hummingbirds.
• His plans and expectations on how to work collaboratively with people who love origami.

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Who is Cekoaut León

The origami of Mexican artist Cekouat Elim León Peralta (1996) represents a unique intersection of traditional craftsmanship, scientific inquiry, and contemporary art.

Drawing from his family’s background in artisanal practices and prehispanic dance, coupled with his formal education in Biology, Cekouat has spent 16 years mastering and innovating the art of paper folding. His unique approach translates careful observations into intricately designed models. This distinctive work has earned him international recognition, leading to exhibitions, workshops, and lectures across the Americas and Spain.

Cekouat’s artistic philosophy centers on creating connections between cultural heritage and natural observation and is reflected in a meticulous approach to his studies of materials and of flora and fauna both in the wild and in biological collections.

This philosophical foundation is given even greater depth through Chekouat’s studies of the cultural and botanical aspects of amate (Mexican bark paper) in collaboration with indigenous craftspeople in San Pablito, Puebla, and his examination of the relationship between orchids and Mexican artistic traditions.

Built on many layers of social and natural history, Cekouat’s work aims to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of the living world. His methodology illustrates his commitment to what he calls “horizontal communication” between artistic tradition, natural subjects, and contemporary expression, creating origami that serves as both artistic achievement and cultural preservation.

Special Guest and Exhibitions

Cekuat León was the special guest at the Argentinian and Mexican conventions in 2024. His origami work has been in several group and solo exhibitions, including:

• BiOrigami. Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico. November 21, 2023-January 31, 2024.
• Orquídeas y Colibríes. Escuela Museo de Origami Zaragoza (EMOZ), Zaragoza, Spain, 2023

Visit Cekouat Leon’s WEBSITE, Facebook, Instagram.

Photographs courtesy of Cekouat León