Sunday, June 10, 2007

Duncan the Metal Bender at the Expo

Metal Sculptor (would that be the label you like?) Duncan Leask, at the Expo, last month. I met Duncan when he came to submit his application for the Expo in January; I was waiting for Martin at Arts Marketing for an appointment; Martin was late, so I got to meet Duncan.

From his artist's statement: "My eyes and hands are my best tools. Steel is easily manipulated once heated; I am of the earth, fire feels natural, metal melts, I sweat, my muscles burn, my eyes see, my heart pounds, the hammer sounds, a smile on my lips, I enjoy the hits."

One of the things I discovered while talking to others was now that I, too, am a person who makes things, I appreciate the process as much as I do the finished artworks, and I've stopped (or at least try to) judge works and artists by first impressions. This is me becoming open-minded; it's new and it feels great.

In Duncan's case, the physicality of his work, of heating and bending something I normally think of as cold and hard, intrigued me. His process sounds so "opposite" to mine. And very masculine, (though mine is not feminine.)

His station was only three down from mine, and whenever I turned slightly to the right from my seat, his giant Tiki, unintentionally lit perfectly by the florescent lights under the pelmet, stared back at me. That's an image hard to forget.

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