After retiring as an officer from the Defense Forces at the age of 44, Israeli artist Ilan Garibi decided that, rather than taking the easy route towards military contracting, he would make a living off of his origami art alone.
Garibi uses the traditional methods of the Japanese artform, but has now expanded his horizons beyond paper to create his works by folding a single sheet of metal or wood. Taking thin sheets of material, the artist uses a laser cutter to slice into them just enough to create a line along his he can fold it with his hands, using gloves to avoid fingerprints in the work
“You can fold almost any kind of material,” he says. “Just look at it long enough and you’ll find the right way to fold it,” he told Wired Magazine in 2015.
His 46m Infinity Wall installation in Bavli Park, Tel Aviv, is a testament to what he can achieve by manipulating materials in this manner, though his work ranges from beautiful paper lampshades to jewelry.