NOVEMBER 25 • 2021 | 21

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MATH PLUS ART
EQUALS A WIN
Fleischer says the process to get 
to where he is now was one of 
trial and error, and took much 
time and patience — and math. 
“I used my trigonometry and 
geometry skills to see where to 
make the folds,
” he said. “It took 
lots of empirical work until I 
realized what I was doing.
” 
He begins each piece by out-
lining the forms he draws on 
the file folders, scores the edges 
with a sharp-edged leather nee-
dle with a slightly dulled point, 
and then cuts, precisely folds 
and glues the intricate sections 
into 3-D art forms. 
He uses various colors of file 
folders, even different shades of 
the same color from different 
manufacturers. “I’m always 
looking for different ones,
” 
Fleischer said. “Seems every-
body’s going paperless and I’m 
going paper.
”
Much of his work also 
includes appliques that he 
cuts out and glues onto other 
sections. The peacock’s 7-foot 
semi-circular train includes 
33 plumes with 219 eight-lay-
er frontal eyespots and 215 
two-layer rear eyespots, with 
more than 2,100 appliques on 
the train. 
“My pieces do not have 
a front and back,
” he said. 
“Everything is finished in all 
directions. Some have parts 
that can be removed and put 
back in.
” And all of them can be 
touched. “With clean hands,
” he 
stresses. “You need to feel them 
and pick them up, if they’re 
small enough. Then you can 
really appreciate them.
”
The conception of his art-
work varies. “Sometimes I 
design it before hand,
” Fleischer 
said. “Sometimes I just wander 
off in a phantasmagorical way.
” 
His descriptions of his work 
include mathematical terms like 
isometric, hexagons, algebraic 
equations, polyhedrons, ratio, 

altitudes and apex but also 
artists’ depictions like blissful, 
graceful and chic. 
His list of tools is as simple as 
it gets. “I use a compass, trian-
gle, ruler, scissors, pencil, an awl 
and Elmer’s glue,
” Fleischer said. 
He is currently working on 
his 121st piece of art, storing all 
of them in a makeshift gallery 
in his apartment. “My studio 
is my kitchen, and my second 
bedroom is totally filled with 
objets d’art,
” he said. “The pea-

cock, which is the biggest piece, 
was on a coffee table in the 
living room for a while, but its 
train took up too much space 
on the couch, so it’s now on the 
dining room table.
”
Born in Paris and raised in 
New York, Fleischer received 
a bachelor’s of mechanical 
engineering degree from the 
City College of New York and 
a master’s of science degree 
from Columbia University. He 
is a 25-year trustee of the Carls 

Foundation, a past member 
of the Detroit Science Center 
Board of Trustees, a Michigan 
licensed professional engineer, 
certified manufacturing engi-
neer, and a 2019 inaugural 
inductee of the International 
Fluid Power Society Hall of 
Fame. He served as a regional 
judge for the International First® 
Robotics Competitions and was 
commissioned to author a text 
on fluid dynamics.
His work has been shown 
in the Greater Michigan Art 
Exhibition Midland Center for 
the Arts, Huron Valley Council 
for the Arts in Highland, 
Janice Charach Gallery and the 
Taubman Gifts of Art Gallery 
where he saw the piece that first 
inspired his art. 

THE SHOWINGS
This year’s Sept. 16-Oct. 3, 
ArtPrize competition was 
Fleischer’s second time exhib-
iting in the show, having also 
attended in 2012. The 2021 
event showcased the artwork of 
955 artists at 142 venues.
The Birds of a Feather trilogy, 
which he says he created “in 
memory of my late wife Rhoda 
(to) honor the moments we 
shared, from our first meeting 
through family and senior 
years,
” was also presented at a 
Nov. 9, exhibition, sponsored by 
the Fox Run Birders group.
Before the showing of his 
work, the group viewed a video 
interview with Fleischer by 
the film’s producer, Fox Run 
resident Marj Taylor, who 
described him as having an 
inborn sense of beauty of how 
things are related and work 
together. “He can take some-
thing as simple as a file folder 
and with a pair of scissors and 
a bit of glue transfer it into art 
that has meaning,
” she said.
Fleischer, the father of two 
married sons, grandfather of 
five and great-grandfather of 
three, was thrilled to welcome 
his son Dr. Bruce Fleischer 

‘Phoenix Rising from the Ashes,’ created 
in 686 hours over a period of six months

Hank Fleischer’s ‘Orange Segments: Deconstructed Turkey,’ 
described by the artist as ‘Remembering how the segments of our 
life varied in texture and sweetness, but were all nourishing.’

“AN ALMOST CENTENARIAN CAN 
STILL CONTRIBUTE AND CAN STILL 
BE CONSTRUCTIVE AND CAN STILL 

FLY LIKE THE YOUNG EAGLES.” 

— HANK FLEISCHER

BRUCE FLEISCHER
BRADEN RADTKE