Hank Fleischer Z''L 1923-2022
~~ Paper Sculpture ~~

I volunteered and was honorably discharged after 3 years in the Army Corps of Engineers, serving in both European and Pacific theaters during World War II. I obtained my B. Mech. Eng. degree from The City College of New York and M. Sc. from Columbia University. I was commissioned by McGraw-Hill to author a text on  fluid dynamics. The result, Manual of Pneumatic Systems Optimization, was published in 1995. I served as a regional judge for 6 years for The International First® Robotics Competitions. https://www.firstinspires.org/ I am currently Vice President and Treasurer of the respected Michigan Carls Foundation (conservation of land and children’s welfare, http://carlsfdn.org/) and a past member of The Detroit Science Center Board of Trustees. I retired as a Vice President of Numatics, Inc. at 78. I am a Michigan licensed Professional Engineer, certified Manufacturing Engineer, and an inductee into the 2019 inaugural class of the International Fluid Power Society Hall of Fame.

I embarked on a new venture after retiring which I call “Architectural Art”. My journey led me from cutting hexagons to drawing isometric shapes. The challenge then was to convert them to 3-D. My tools are scissors, pencils, an awl, a compass, two triangles and my trig and geometry skills. The creations begin by outlining the predetermined forms on file folders, scoring for crisp edges, cutting, folding, gluing them into polyhedrons and subsequently clustering the results into hexagrams and stars. The file folder, being readily available for repurposing, provides the proper combination of flexibility and robustness. Artists often work with self-imposed constraints to spur creativity. Most of my creations are constructed from many copies of a basic unit, varying only in color and angles. The objective in each piece is to appreciate the entire creation, yet to be aware of the individual components. My art has been exhibited at several venues in the last few years including The Alden B. Dow Art & Science Museum, Janice Charach Gallery, The Huron Valley Council of the Arts, and The University of Michigan Gifts of Art.