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David Lister
Metal Sculptor
Metal Art
by
Dave Lister
B.O.T.
Born of Trash
Winner of the 2011 Miller Welding Projects Competition
Unique metal sculptures created from recycled materials
Project Description
This is a little guy I made from the parts I found in a scrap yard nearby. The first piece I found was his head and the rest just fell into place.It was alot of fun creating him.
Tools Used
Miller mig welder, plasma cutter (borrowed) , sand blaster, band saw, drill press, various vice grips and C clamps.
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Sculptors Guild of Michigan - All Rights Reserved
As well as metal art my back ground includes drawing, pastels, charcoal, pen and ink, wood carving and wax mold cast jewelry. I have always been interested in metal art because of this mediums transition from its raw, cold, hard and heavy state into something sensual at times or lighter than air, whimsical or thought provocing. I gravitated to " found art" because when I find that special piece of metal the rest of the creation come together then its just a matter of putting it all together. I really enjoy turning something from nothing into a piece that provides happiness, or simply starts a conversation.- - - Enjoy.
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
'Guardian of the Garden'
'Robobird'
'Flight Primeval'
"Flight Primeval" was created after I came across an artist with incredible talent by the name of Benoit Poleche who's art can be seen at benalo.net. His grasp of nature transferred into metal is unparalleled. The sensual lines of something organic are still visible and very much alive in his art. I found it to be very inspiring. This piece had several welcome challenges one of which was the cutting and hand shaping of the articulated shell on the top of the piece. Another was working with a different medium such as textiles to bring lift and life to its form. It may appear somewhat basic and crude but when it took flight in my imagination for its time it was state of the art.
Preliminary Sketch
Final Development
"Mechaniphant" was a commission piece I did that I enjoyed very much because I was able to combine not only the subject the customer wanted being an elephant but into its design I used various pieces that are used in the customers occupation which made this piece even more special.
Hum Bird
Although whimsical this piece has an element of grace or elegance to its form. This guy is the second in my birds line, the first entitled " Robobird" (below) came to fruition when I had completed the main body and talons (Fig. 3) of "Guardian" and I put the two together and VOILA the rest fell into place. Nothing elegant about this little guy he's just cute and pudgy. The wings (Fig. 1) of "Guardian" are table knives and I thought when they are stacked and staggered they looked like flight feathers and the head crest (Fig. 2) are stacked teaspoons welded to a pair of scissors which makes the beak. The neck is possible to conform to gaze at a particular point of reference in any garden.
Mechaniphant
I'm working on a couple more pieces now - - come back soon, I'd love to show them to you.
I'm always looking to re-purpose discarded metal objects. In this case my pumpkins are made from air conditioning coolant fluid containers.
