Hello, I'm Coco.
I'm an artist using origami to change the way people see the world.
I love reimagining this centuries-old Japanese art form, finding new ways to blend tradition and innovation. Through geometry, form and sensory experience, I create moments that feel calm, curious and deeply connected - experiences people remember.
From sculpture and installation to live performance, I explore how simple materials can transform space, perception and emotion. My practice unites Japanese sensibility with modern innovation, bringing together art, science and psychology.
Over the years, I've collaborated with global brands and cultural institutions that share a passion for craft and creativity. As a Lexus Brand Ambassador, I've represented the values of craftsmanship and innovation on an international stage. My projects include Bodyform's award-winning Viva la Vulva campaign, installations at Westminster Abbey, public engagement projects with the V&A, and educational collaborations with WikiHow.
My creative journey has also taken me in front of the camera, with appearances in international campaigns such as Barilla, and features on ITV and Channel 4, connecting my art with audiences beyond the studio.
My ASMR Origami video series, created with the University of Warwick, explores how art and mathematics can create moments of calm through sound and sensory experience. Other cross-disciplinary works, including Roborigami, Aen and Tanabata, merge origami with robotics and mathematics to explore the meeting point of structure and stillness.
Whether I'm creating an artwork, a performance or a collaborative project, my aim is always the same: to spark wonder, invite reflection and connect people through the quiet power of creativity.
Origami begins with one small fold. Where it leads is infinite. Let's create something extraordinary together.
If you're here for a bit of play, head to the Learning Hub - you'll find free resources and creative activities to explore. If you have a project in mind, I'd love to hear from you - please get in touch.
Origins
I have practised origami all my life. In Japan, folding paper is enjoyed by many with family and friends. It is a creative play deeply rooted in our culture. It carries a quiet philosophy: simplicity, patience and transformation.
The ancient legend of a thousand cranes promises longevity, recovery, and good fortune, reminding us that every fold holds meaning. I've always loved how origami creates something from nothing; how a single sheet of paper can become a vessel for imagination and hope.
I began working with Giant Origami in 2009 while teaching a children's art class. Traditionally, origami is small and intimate, meant to be viewed up close. But when I enlarged the forms so they could be seen from across the room, I realised how powerfully they could transform a space and captivate attention.
Since then, Giant Origami has evolved into my artistic language, a way to challenge how Japanese culture is represented abroad. Too often it's flattened into cliché: geishas, samurai, neon Tokyo. My work offers something more authentic - a tactile, human expression of Japanese creativity as it truly exists in everyday life.
Through Giant Origami, I invite audiences to make an emotional connection with a cultural ritual that might otherwise feel distant - to slow down, to observe, and to rediscover wonder in the simple act of folding.
Official Bio
Born in Tokyo, Japan. Lives and works in Brighton, UK.
Coco Sato is an award-winning contemporary artist whose cross-disciplinary practice bridges art, science and psychology through the language of origami. Working across sculpture, installation, film and performance, Sato explores how geometry, light and sensory experience can shift perception and foster connection.
Raised in Tokyo and trained in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins in London, Sato's work creates dialogue between cultures, combining Japanese sensibility and craftsmanship with modern innovation. Her paper sculptures and immersive installations invite audiences to step beyond the everyday and rediscover a sense of calm, wonder and connection.
Collaborating with experts across STEM disciplines, she has developed a series of experimental works including the Origami Sacred Geometry series, Roborigami (interactive robotic origami), Resogami (resonant meditative light sculpture), Electro Origami (wearable electronic paper art), Zenogami (a mindfulness origami app), and Portagami (deployable origami structures for real-world use).
Sato's cross-disciplinary research has been supported by the Leverhulme Trust, in partnership with Professor Thomas Montenegro-Johnson. Her work has been exhibited at Westminster Abbey and presented through public engagement projects for the Victoria & Albert Museum, as well as educational collaborations with WikiHow.
Her recent works include Equation Wall Art (University of Warwick, 2025), translating hydrogel thermodynamics into colour, pattern and form, and Symbiosis: Synthetic Skin (upcoming 2026), a research-led inquiry into synthetic materiality as a mirror of human evolution and ethical progress.
In the commercial sphere, Sato has created original artworks and experiential events for Lexus, Victorinox, Barilla, Georg Jensen and Bodyform, representing the values of craftsmanship and innovation on an international stage. Her creative journey has also taken her in front of the camera, with appearances in international campaigns such as Barilla, and features on ITV and Channel 4, connecting her art with audiences beyond the studio.
Sato's work continues to expand the boundaries of origami as a living art form - one that bridges tradition and technology, play and precision, the tangible and the imagined.