The new exhibit at Mingei International Museum North County is actually a face-off between the right and left brains, and it gives them both quite a workout. That observation might seem odd, given the title of the show, "Paper Transformed," and its contents: 250 hats constructed from paper bags and an array of some 100 origami pieces.

But this is no display of the simplistic childhood newspaper caps and pretty little cranes you may associate with those terms. No, these are works of folk art that boggle the mind, even while the eye is delighted and amazed.

Divided into two distinct but complementary sections, the exhibit is comprised of "Origami --The Art of Paper Folding" and "Crowning Glory -- Paper Bag Hats by Moses." And it's the interplay of these two art forms that gives the exhibit its power and its joy.

The origami, precise and elegant, stands in self-contained contrast to the organic exuberance of Moses' creations, and the synergy produced zings around the room.

Itís interesting to note that although the pieces themselves are not high in coloration -- the hats are the universal light-brown hue of grocery sacks, unadorned by nothing save the artistry and skill of their creator; and the origami, which seems far more about the form and the cleverness of those who fashion it than about the artistic qualities of the paper from which it emerges --- the overall impression at the Escondido venue is a lively one.

Visual tension between the disparate elements is created by means of a giant chess game featuring several of the hats in strategic battle with an equal number of origami forms.

This element of emotional energy was contributed by the exhibit's curator, V'Ann Cornelius, who is also the administrator of this satellite branch of the museum (whose main location is in Balboa Park). Cornelius is a self-avowed origamist who describes her passion thus: "There is a sense of magic in transforming the mundane into a whole other form. It's also satisfying to take a medium and explore its potential. That resonates very deeply with me," she explained.

The origami art form, which has been in existence for centuries (since soon after the invention of paper by the Chinese almost 1,900 years ago, according to a museum press release), came into its own during the seventh century in Japan, where it had been introduced by Buddhist missionaries. At first an amusement of the rich, the practice of origami gradually filtered down through all strata of society until, during the Meiji Period (1868-1912), it was introduced into the curriculum of elementary schools, where it was taught to illustrate the principles of geometry.

This deceptively simple technique of crafting creatures and other shapes (check out the intricacies of the trees upstairs and the nautilus on the ground floor) spread to Europe in the 19th century and has continued to grow as an international activity -- for some as a way to unwind, for others a form of recreational math.

Cornelius noted that paper folding steadily gained momentum and then exploded to its current level of interest over the past few decades -- there were only 150 or so origami designs known at the beginning of the 20th century, compared to the thousands currently in use -- thereby creating a worldwide movement that has become a close-knit but expansive community that shares ideas and designs via Web sites, conventions, books and exhibitions. In keeping with that philosophy, an informative video and helpful displays are available at the Mingei to expand viewers' understanding of origami's scientific, mathematical and even medical applications, as well as introducing them to several artisans' unique approaches to their craft.

According to Martha Ehringer, program director for the museum, "Our founder believed that everyone is inherently an artist, but we show the best of the best," she said, gesturing toward the display of paper-bag hats donated by the artist Moses. A New-York trained artist who moved to Hawaii, Ehringer continued, Moses created the headpieces in the 1980s for two reasons: He needed to cover his bald head, and he enjoyed playing with the concept. His sculptures, truly wearable art, were modeled by passers-by on the beach and then photographed; many of those images are on view as well.

Perhaps his modest description of how this phenomenon evolved best sums up how people create art without pretension. "I quite accidentally turned a size 12 bag on my head, and it fit … I started to play with them, and that's how it happened," Moses said.

In conjunction with the exhibit, the museum is offering several special events: On March 10 visitors will be shown how to fold simple forms by members of Origami San Diego; on April 14 and May 5, former physicist Robert Lang, who has retired to pursue a career in computational origami, will talk and give demonstrations; and on May 12, Cornelius will hold a paper-bag hat-making workshop.