Intricately Cut Paper Portraits of Endangered Animals Around the World

Tiger

Philippines-based creative Patrick Cabral is a man of many talents. At age 11, he discovered a love for calligraphy, but as he got older he was drawn to a career in the digital world as a web programmer and animator. Now, he’s combining the structure inherent in digital design with the type of flourishes you’d find in calligraphy. His gorgeous work features portraits of animals adorned with exquisite lace motifs stacked in layers of three-dimensional beauty.

Cabral’s stunning relief series includes creatures from around the world. Though they differ in species, they all share the same distressing characteristic: each of these animals are endangered. It is fitting, then, that his portraits are so delicate. The complex, abstract patterns with intricate slices offer an apt metaphor; like their fragile construction, the fate of those real animals like pandas, snow leopards, and pangolins hangs in the balance. It’s up to us to save their dwindling populations before it’s too late.

To help do his part, Cabral is selling his work through the online art auction site called Acts of Kindness. It has a social good component, and 50% of the proceeds from each of Cabral’s sales goes towards the World Wide Fund for Nature in the Philippines.