Salaam Feroze, can you introduce yourself?

My name is Feroze Ali and I am a high schooler from Rochester, New York. My parents both immigrated from Pakistan, and I was born in the United States. I have been working with 3D printing since I was nine years old and was able to launch a community project to make face shields for first responders during the COVID pandemic. Since childhood, I have also had a fascination with the ancient Japanese paper-folding art of origami. 

What inspired you?

I often visited my family in Pakistan and became interested in the complex geometric tilings and architecture surrounding me. As I grew up, I was constantly looking for hobbies, and I stumbled upon origami at a young age. It was when I started an origami project in my math class that I realized that both art forms could intersect and that the symmetry of paintings and tilings could be represented by paper sculptures.

Can you tell us about your work?

Looking more into the topics of math and origami, I found two subsections of origami: tessellations, and modular origami. At first, I dove into the rabbit hole that is modular origami. This taught me about all sorts of 3D symmetry and geometry. Once I had made over 50 models, I was fascinated by the ideas behind tessellations. I found that while more difficult, they often represented the symbols and ideas that are expressed by Islamic architecture and design. Over the years I have also learned to build my own 3D printers and use digital design techniques to build more complex shapes and products for a variety of clients. Both my 3D printing projects and origami sculptures are visible at 3dferoze.com/projects and 3dferoze.com/origami

What are your future plans? 

While I have been interested in the designs of others, my goal for 2023 is to design and publish more of my personal designs. This could challenge me to discover the math behind the polyhedra that composes a modular origami design. This is still a field of art that is being discovered, but because of the groundwork laid out by designers like Robert J. Lang, Byriah Loper, and Daniel Kwan, the origami community is able to grow, and these Islamic designs are able to impact people around the world, and it is my goal to spread the word!

What does Ramadan mean to you? Can you share a Ramadan memory with us?

Ramadan really plays into my love for food! Even as a kid, I was excited about Ramadan because it meant that I could wake up in the middle of the night to eat food! Even if I wasn't fasting, I would still wake up for seheri (suhoor in Pakistani) with my mom. During the day, I would find myself looking forward to the iftar at sunset, where my entire family would come together to bond over food.

It is wonderful to meet you Feroze. May Allah help you to achieve your goals.

Ameen. Thank you for this opportunity. 

Here is a link to a google photos album with lots of professional photos of my artwork, I think there are a little less than 500 photos on there. You can download them as you wish. If you want some description of some of the photos, here is a link to a portfolio detailing some of the sculptures: www.3dferoze.com/origami