Mandatory Credit: Photo by John Lopez/REX (3762098n)
The Welded Scrap Iron Sculptures of John Lopez
These stunning sculptures of heavy beasts have been fashioned from scrap metal.
They are the work of artist John Lopez who welds the pieces from abandoned farm machinery.
Based in the town of Lemmon, South Dakota, the 43-year-old has created full-size representations of creatures including a horse, buffalo and even a cowboy atop a triceratops.
John had a successful career in bronze sculpting, but changed his working techniques after the death of his beloved aunt Effie in a car accident.
He moved to his widowed Uncle Geno Hunt’s ranch and set about making a family cemetery. But after completing a perimeter fence John ran out of material and, being 35 miles from the nearest town, had to search for usable scrap iron on site. It led on to working with the disused metal as an art material.
John explains: « I am a sculptor and love to create. I started welding sculptures together using scrap iron after my Aunt Effie’s death. I built a cemetery around her head stone on the ranch and it all started from there.
« I get my ideas from my life, the ranch, our history here, the animals around our area.
« First and for most I am a sculptor, I have studied anatomy and form in clay for fifteen years. I am not even that good of a welder I am more concerned with the form and look of the piece than I am with my welds.
« It can take me up to 5 months to build one of these pieces. I am working on one now that could take me a couple years.
« I collect the iron from local ranchers and farmers I knew as a kid. My family and friends are more than happy to help out.
« I think Black Hawk is the one I am most proud of. The plough horse is a symbol world wide that we all understand to be apart of our past and history. We depended on them so much before modern machinery was invented. The horse…
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