As a girl in Shanghai, China, Nancy Bjorge kept her fingers busy folding tiny paper boats. The shapes signified ingots, she says, and her grandmother pressed her to produce them by the hundreds.

As you tour the exhibit that opens at the Dayton Art Institute this weekend, you’ll have to keep reminding yourself that the pieces on view were all created from simple pieces of paper. “Above the ...

Former SpaceX engineer Brian Ignaut has created a lot of origami-inspired furniture and “kinetic home products” that are whoa-inducing. But his folding chess set? It may be one of his masterpieces.