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Orange Peel Animals Aren’t Technically Origami, But They’re Still Awesome

Japanese artist Yoshihiro Okada's work is apeeling.

Unwinding thin peels of citrus into a variety of elegantly detailed figurines, Japanese artist Yoshihiro Okada depicts different animals out of fruit rinds. From monkeys to rabbits, his creative process is limited only by the conservation concept: that every work is created using a single, unbroken sheet of skin. That sounds like a true challenge, at least for me, who can never seem to get the skin off the fruit in one piece.

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Bringing the Japanese tradition of sitting on a kotatsu—a wooden table covered by heavy blanket—and eating a mikan—Japanese citrus—to new levels, Okada creates a praying mantis, a unicorn, and even Nessie, using peels and peels alone. The artist's practice has become quite popular in Japan, and Okada has published two books featuring peeling designs, as well as detailed instructions on how to peel an orange in 25 different ways.

A few days ago, he released new stop-motion videos so you can see his process in motion. Check them out below:

Click here to see more work of Yoshihiro Okada.

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