James Z. Higa, 86, Inventor of paper-folding Krimpart
Matthew Kruk
chicagotribune.com
James Z. Higa, 1923-2010
Inventor of paper-folding Krimpart
By Trevor Jensen, Tribune reporter
9:13 PM CDT, May 11, 2010
James Z. Higa invented an artistic form involving folded paper that he
called "Krimpart."
Using a tool of his own design that consisted of two plastic tubes, Mr.
Higa folded newsprint and other paper pieces in a fanlike fashion - or
like the crimp in a straw - to create pieces of all shapes and sizes,
from frame-able wall art to animal and floral miniatures to room-size
installations.
Mr. Higa, 86, died Saturday, April 17, at his daughter's home in Lake
Bluff, said his wife, Joan. A longtime Glencoe resident, he had been on
dialysis for several years and suffered from congestive heart failure,
she said.
Born in Hawaii, Mr. Higa grew up in the town of Pepeekeo near Hilo and
was in high school when Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese. He went
on to serve in an Army intelligence unit, his wife said.
After the war, he came to Chicago to study at the Illinois Institute of
Technology's renowned Institute of Design. He took a job in the graphic
design department of Container Corp. of America, where he provided work
for clients including General Mills and Washington Apples.
After 10 years with Container Corp., he struck out on his own. As a
freelancer, he worked for many years from a studio at 535 N. Michigan
Ave., where several other commercial artists also had space. He was a
member of a group called the 27 Designers that promoted their work
through a yearly publication.
Work was steady from clients including textbook publishers and Playboy
magazine, whose editorial offices were right up the street. Art Paul,
Playboy's art director for 30 years, said Mr. Higa often came to him
with pieces.
One that sold was an illustration for the article "What to do with the
Sunday New York Times," for which Mr. Higa created a roomful out of
furniture out of pages from the massive newspaper employing his Krimpart
technique.
Mr. Higa promoted Krimpart at art schools, marketed his Krimpart tool
and for a time ran a retail shop selling the tool and his art in
Evanston. In 1973 he appeared on the television show "What's My Line,"
where panelists tried to figure out what he did for work. The answer was
that paper was his line, said his daughter, Tracy Burns.
If a newspaper page was designed in a way that pleased him, he would buy
10 copies of the newspaper for his next Krimpart production.
"He felt from that idea you could create so many things," his daughter
said of her father's fervor for the art form he created. "His Krimpart
was like his third child. He wanted to send Krimpart out to the world."
Phillip Renaud, an artist who met Mr. Higa when both were doing work for
Scott Foresman publisher in the 1960s, recalled a small Krimpart fish
pattern Mr. Higa gave to him.
"Just amazing stuff," Renaud said of his friend's creations. "He would
make all kinds of animals and fish. I've never seen anything quite like
it."
"Our house was filled with Krimpart," his wife said. "He never threw
anything away."
Mr. Higa is also survived by a son, Jonathan, and three grandchildren.
A celebration of his life will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. May 25 at the
Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Rd., Glencoe.
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