Joel Amit was born in Jerusalem, Israel in 1982 and has been painting, sculpting and designing from a young age. His passion for creating influenced him to study architecture at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, where he graduated with honors. Following Amit’s higher education studies he relocated to the Negev desert, where he then lived for five years designing, planning and building villages. During Amit’s time in the desert, he experimented with a wide range of building materials. His new building designs utilized a slew of different building materials ranging from concrete and wood to cardboard and paper. His interest in new materials did not stop there and soon began imagining up ways to utilize small scraps of unclaimed metal in his large-scale structures and projects. Over time, Amit developed his extraordinary style that he is so known for today.

Amit starts each of his sculptures by creating a detailed drawing and rendering of his ideas. Most details are mapped out before the composition has begun in a blueprint map, which includes the positions of each individual metal component along with the color composition and location of each splatter of paint that adorn much of his work. Every piece of metal has a different shape and each are individually manipulated by hand to give each composition life. As the daylight changes, each metal shape casts a unique reflection against the baseboard to give his seemingly stationary sculptures a sense of movement and fluidity. The small metal components that make up Amit’s pieces are raised from the background at varying heights in order to give the three-dimensional illusion of butterflies swarming or birds flocking towards the viewer.

Each metal component is individually cut from either stainless steel or scrap metal, painted by hand and then welded onto individual spokes. Once all the pieces are assembled, Amit carefully layers them amongst one another to create each composition. Working with butterflies, cranes, fish and more, Amit juxtaposes the hard, industrial steel he works with against the delicate nature of the shapes he cuts them into. Through his techniques, Amit achieves a sense of depth in space that exceeds beyond the layers of simple painted metal. It is as though his butterflies will disperse at the slightest touch or his cranes will spread their wings and take to the skies.