First A Forager, Then A Welder: Sculptor David Skora Transforms Discarded Steel
The idiom "one man's trash is another man's treasure" aptly describes how New Hartford, Connecticut artist David Skora often finds inspiration for his work. The discarded scraps of steel that Skora discovers at the local dump and transforms into sculptures have more than paid for his yearly $140 dump pass.
His artistic process is a testament to the transformative power of imagination and resourcefulness. The acclaimed Litchfield County artist uses these bits of metal joined sometimes with new pieces of metal to create large welded, polychromed metal sculptures that evoke the spirit of modernist innovation.
Sculptor David Skora explains the process of creating this early piece.
Skora views his sculpture as a dynamic dialogue between form and motion, capturing a frozen moment in time, teetering on the brink of collapse. “They are often off balance to suggest motion,” he explains.
He navigates the creative process, employing CAD (computer-aided design) as well as maquettes, cardboard full-scale models, or sketches to see how the sculpture will resolve itself.
Once he has an idea, Skora begins to weld the different pieces together in his large, three-bay garage home studio. He admits that it’s hard for him to stop once he gets started. Once the piece comes together, Skora paints it with brightly colored, weather-resistant tractor paint and sets it outside to dry. His bold sculptures are also placed throughout his rural, three-acre property.
His family can vouch for the countless hours Skora has dedicated, working late into the night on pieces. He admits that inspiration can come at any time. “I’m always thinking about what the piece might look like,” Skora says. He enjoys other mediums as well such as painting and creating altered books from forgotten volumes he’s rescued from the dump. Not one to sit still, Skora also manages to teach full-time as a Professor of Graphic Design at Western Connecticut State University.
A colorful sculpture created by David Skora sits in his yard outside his home studio in New Hartford.
While his award-winning, colorful sculptures can be found all over the country in many public settings as well as private collections, Skora maintains a refreshingly unfussy and practical approach to describing his process and his inspiration. “I’m interested in making stuff,” he says matter-of-factly. “My work isn’t cutting edge or avant-garde. I’m not making any political statements. Of course, I hope people will enjoy my work, but the real joy is in the process for me.”
That practical, pragmatic, and accessible approach to art comes from Skora’s humble, blue-collar beginnings, growing up in Southwestern Michigan on the shores of Lake Michigan. His father actually worked as a welder, but Skora says his father wasn’t the type to spend time showing him the process.
An Artist Emerges
There were no artists in his family except for his aunt who lived in Chicago and worked as an au pair for a wealthy family and traveled all over the world. She would spend time with Skora making crafts and was a big influence on his life. When he was 12, she took him and his brother on a life-changing trip to San Francisco, where they visited museums.
“That’s obviously when I started to really want to be an artist,” Skora says. “I wanted to draw. I always did it as a kid, but I never thought of it as a profession.”
“In my teen years, I started to try to paint a loaf of bread,” he recalls. “I couldn’t believe when I finished how much it really looked like a loaf of bread. No one taught me.”
Then he began learning everything he could about art. “I went to the library in my small hometown and took out every book they had about art.”
Because his hometown was also a popular resort area, Skora was able to meet vacationing artists and talk to them about art. In particular, he remembers meeting internationally acclaimed artist and painter Roger Brown.
After receiving his Bachelor of Science in graphic design from Western Michigan University, Skora worked as a graphic designer in Chicago and South Bend, Indiana. In South Bend, Skora began his professional career as a painter and sculptor and his artwork was shown throughout the Midwest.
In the 1980s, he moved to Connecticut and worked as a graphic designer and a fine artist. Then he moved to New York City, where he received his Masters of Fine Arts in painting from the School of Visual Arts. He returned to Connecticut again in the early 1990s and accepted a teaching position at the University of New Haven while pursuing his fine art career.
In the late 1990s, Skora decided to learn how to weld. He took a class at Silvermine Arts Center in New Canaan and was hooked. He continued to take more classes and then decided to buy his own welder and try it on his own.
At first, Skora did small sculptures before trying his hand at large pieces. “They just kept getting bigger and bigger,” he says. Then Skora realized that cities and organizations all around the country were not buying sculptures but leasing them from the artists so he submitted his work to different group exhibitions and just kept going. He estimates that he has created thousands of pieces since he first started.
Skora figures that he put 250,000 miles on his first pickup truck as he drove the sculptures back and forth to cities and towns all over the country. Now, he’s got a newer truck and even more sculptures to deliver for upcoming shows.
In spite of the many miles he’s driven, Skora’s creativity, inspiration, and enthusiasm seem endless. “There are so many things I still want to do,” Skora says. “I’m not changing the world, but it definitely changes my world. I really enjoy doing this.”
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