Deborah 'Deb' Pun was born on the East Coast and spent two years as a young girl in Taiwan learning Chinese language and culture. During the early 80s she lived in New York City navigating through the diverse immigrant cultures while growing up in a working-class neighborhood in Flushing, Queens with her mother and two younger brothers. Her love for folding origami was seeded in late 80s when she bought her first origami kit by Tomoko Fuse in a Japanese bookstore.

She holds a B.A. from University at Albany in Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies and Sociology. During her student exchange in Japan, she studied Chinese brush painting and Japanese language. After graduation in mid 90s, her unpaid job as curatorial intern for the “Pritzlaff’s Chinese Commemorative Portraits” at Arthur M. Sackler and Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution instilled in her an appreciation for Asian art & cultures.

In 1998, when she was invited to teach in an Artist-in-Residence program in Saratoga Springs, NY, she discovered an online community of origami enthusiasts to help her craft her first origami lesson for 3rd and 5th grade students. That same year her love for teaching origami blossomed as she volunteered at her first Origami USA convention in New York City. 

Since then she has been teaching to beginners and enthusiasts, learning from master creators and volunteering at origami conventions worldwide. 

Her mission is to bring modern origami designs to everyone by teaching in a clear language, with reference points and visual aids. She was a contributor for five years to Imagiro, bi-monthly amateur publication dedicated to all aspects of the art of origami. She is inspired by an international community of dedicated origami designers and folders who share their ideas in books, online in blogs, forums, and social media sites.

She relocated to Hawai`i in 2005 and lived in Ahualoa, (near Honoka`a on the Hamakua Coast) with her former husband. She taught how to raise egg-laying chickens and how to grow and process tea. She now lives in Berkeley, California and enjoying meeting people through local origami groups and through her tea demonstrations.

She is available for small group teaching and demonstration sessions and for one-on-one private origami lessons. Please e-mail to inquire about rates and availability aloha.origami@gmail.com.