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SCULPTURE AND 

"ART-THINGS"

Pure sculpture, and the random experiments preceding it. In other words: the whimsical un-sorted "art-thing" category!

COPPER DAEDRA REPOUSSE:

SHEETMETAL EXPLORATION 6 

Febuary 2023

In Febuary for 2023, I returned to THAK Ironworks, the shop where I first started metalsmithing in 2012. 
Every time I Learn a new sheetmetal forming discipline, I try to make a face, and this was no different. Using a mix of stake raising and Repousse, I made the "Daedric Face Of God". A mask from on of my favorite childhood videogames. 

SICK-ASS

DRAGON SCULPTURE

December 2022 - SOLD

He kind 'a looks like a puppy, doesn't he? 

20 years ago, my client made a MUCH simpler version of this dragon, then chose to sell it to a stranger instead of his mom. obviously, he never heard the end of it. 
I was brought in to settle the issue, and save him any more earfuls. I doubt I succeeded, but I sure made a sick-ass dragon!

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ATHAME RITUAL OBJECT

summer 2022 - SOLD

An Athame is a dull double-edged dagger used in pagan rituals for the opening and closing of circles.

LUNG DRAGON FIRE POKER

December 2019 - SOLD

What started as an experiment in twisting dissimilar materials around each other has grown into one of my favorite one-off projects. The long hollow handle allows for breath to be shot down the length and be funneled through the dragons mouth into the coals of a fire. The nose and horns meanwhile made a great poker for adjusting logs. 
for me, breathing life into a bonfire is a nearly religious experience, and its only heightened by having an object of ritual in the act.

WYLD CROWN

winter 2019

Blacksmiths are hoarders by nature. We can repurpose any piece of iron and we're loath to throw metal away, so shops become cluttered quickly. Eventually though, you HAVE TO take your workshop back, and choose to find inspiration in necessity.

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In other words, I was cleaning my shop one day, got fed up, and made some art about it.

HIS FINGERS BURIED IN SOIL

March 2019

Frank Amati (1929-2018)

Born in Italy, worked the land.

Made a new life, folding Canadian steel.

Tended his garden till the day he died

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This damascus steel pitchfork was made in celebration of my Grandfather, who died in July of 2018. I gathered objects from his home that I associated with his story (his metal tools, steel shelves he made, his garden's soil), broke them down, and remade them in as the tool through which I experienced that tale. When he grew too old to heft his pitchfork anymore, he had me drive it into the soil for him.  

FROM HIS GARDEN

TO MY MOTHER AND UNCLE

March 2019

These knives are property of Pasqua Amati and Ben Amati, held in trust by Julian Amati-Lecours for purposes of transformation.  

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This piece consists of three sets of garden shears, each taken from my late grandfather's land. The eldest set has been reforged into a pair of chef's carving knives.

In this piece I explore the generational change of traditions. My grandfather was a farmer by birth, and always showed love for his family through the home growth of produce. In an Italian home, the food is both a labor and symbol of love.  
But traditions change. My mother and uncle are inheritors of the tradition, but not agriculturalists.  They now show love through feasts and gatherings. The discovery or new foods from around the world, and the entertainment of guests.  The Home grown fruit is traded for home cooked turky, and the garden shears are traded for carving knives.  

In time these knives might belong to me, but for now the traditions belong to my mother and uncle.  

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MY FATHER'S MONSTER

March 2019

In 2002 my father lost his battle with cancer.  In his final days he required a medical oxygen tank to breath, and every few hours the inbuilt air compressor would kick to life and fill the house with noise. As a child, I thought a roaring monster was attached to my father, and so I hid from him when he needed me. 
In this piece, I seek to confront the monster by giving it a physical form. I took a medical oxygen tank, cut it apart, and gave it a face that is also a wearable mask (the better to obscure the users humanity.) I increased its size to match my own (exactly as it was when I was young.) and I displayed it in an isolated room, so I would have the option not to confront it (and therefor the option to confront it.) lastly, I spliced together the roaring sound of an air compressor and recordings of my father's voice, Which would constantly fade in and out of each other, the monster interrupting the man.  All viewers must experience the noise while viewing the piece. To confront My Father's Monster, you need to hear it's voice.   

FORGING STARLIGHT

October 2018

A collaboration with Mac Osborne Metalworks, and the largest lamp I've ever seen.  Unfortunately it was never completed, but even the unfinished sculpture was a sight to behold.

JUDGMENTAL FACES

SHEETMETAL EXPLORATION 2

2016

My second attempt to forge a human face from sheet metal created these strange figures. Neither can be worn, but they exude an implacable wisdom.

THE HEART, UNTARNISHED

2016

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SHEETMETAL EXPLORATION 1
(DEVIL MASK)

Febuary 2016

The first "mask" I ever forged started as a simple experiment to see if I could hammer a nose out of a piece of sheet metal. Things quickly got out of hand. 
Crude though it may be, this mask represents an important milestone in my material exploration practice.

Sculptural "Art-Thing" Gallery: Collections
Sculptural "Art-Thing" Gallery: Instagram
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