Brian Chan's Beetle

Brian Chan is an MIT-trained origami artist and engineer who is widely respected in the origami community for his highly complex, anatomically detailed models. He has designed numerous insect and arthropod models, and his work has been featured in origami exhibitions and conventions worldwide, showcasing his ability to translate biological structures into single-sheet crease patterns.

Yes, the Beetle is folded from a single uncut square of paper, with all of its legs, wings, antennae, and carapace emerging from the same sheet. The anatomical accuracy of the model, including the layering of wing covers over folded wings, is achieved entirely through complex folding sequences rather than cuts or multi-piece assembly.

Chan employs advanced techniques including box-pleating, closed sinks, and color-changing folds to differentiate the beetle's body sections and exposed anatomical parts. His engineering background informs his crease-pattern design, allowing him to allocate paper efficiently so that each of the six legs, two antennae, and elytra receives sufficient material from the single square.

Given the model's complexity and the many thin appendages, folders typically use large sheets of thin, strong paper such as tissue foil or double-tissue treated with methylcellulose. A sheet of at least 35 to 40 centimeters is usually necessary, as the dense folding in the legs and wings rapidly consumes paper and reduces the usable surface area.