"iron joe" levy

 

Growing up in the steel-producing Mahoning Valley must have imprinted my subconscious dramatically. Seeing the glow of a major pour reflecting off the clouds at night ignited fantasies of colossal smithies at the forge and dragons bellowing searing fire and black smoke just over the edge of the hill. It was great fodder for my imagination. After the five minute "how not to blow up lesson" I began a relationship with the material that has chosen me to help it become more than it was designed for organic form, shape, structure living art.

I started creating whimsical yard art, then evolved into more functional pieces like benches, rails and fire pits. Seeking to defy reason, using heavy metal components, I began forging wind sculptures and kinetic pieces, still one of my favorite ventures. Now I have found architectural enhancements as my way to bring art into daily living, inside homes and businesses. Seeing organic forms in seamingly rigid steel is like breathing life into it. Texture. Color. Age. History. Mystery metal under the influence of fire and hammer brings forth the power of natures effects on the elements.

I especially enjoy incorporating found objects and prehistoric fossils into a piece, multiplying the effect of time and the call through the ages. "art of the elements".