California ceramics artist Mark Goudy has found a way to create impossibly-delicate porcelain vessels and sculptures that look as if they were created using origami. Goudy’s day job is as a 3D graphics hardware design engineer. That’s how he got the idea to use 3D software to help design his gravity-defying pieces, not just in the folds but for their balance points.

“Many of these forms are designed to balance on the folds. When set on a flat surface, they rock back and forth, naturally settling into their inherent point of equilibrium.”

His pieces are so thin as to be nearly translucent. He makes them of black or white porcelain, occasionally painting them with metallic salt watercolors after firing. He uses three metal salt pigments, gold, cobalt, and chromium. These give give his pieces hues of red, blue, and green.

You can follow Mark Goudy on his website and on Instagram and Facebook.