Welding Wildlife: How one local sculptor is lighting up the Humboldt art scene

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Eureka, Ca., (KIEM)- Forging faces from forks, Dan McCauley is an artist who turns trash into treasure. He’s a welder with a passion for wildlife.

The first sculpture he remembers building came to life in a spray of sparks. It was a scorpion, pieced together from garden nippers and other metal discards. Since that original arachnid McCauley has turned pieces of junk into monumental works of art.

Completed Mountain Lion Sculpture by Dan McCauley

In Ohio he was commissioned to build a series of dinosaurs. The mighty prehistoric results were made from the fossils of 21st century equipment… abandoned car parts, tools and more. He picked up metallic garbage in the Samoa Dunes that became the components of a Frankenstein, purchased by a collector who displayed monster on Samoa Boulevard in Eureka. Now, he’s working on a series of sculptures that are being installed on Wildwood Avenue in Rio Dell.

At the heart of McCauley’s work are a couple of messages. The first is environmental. The artist’s work is nothing if not sustainable. Turning objects that would otherwise end up in a landfill into things the community can gather around and enjoy is the essence of recycling. He also mimics nature’s art, as he builds realistic and life sized mountain lions and bears (a background in both Environmental Science and taxidermy help him here).

Sculpture on the Avenue in Rio Dell, Owl by Dan McCauley

The second message: embrace creativity. When an onlooker’s eyes light up, noticing a wrench on an owl sculpture, or a vent on a sea bird, that’s a special moment for McCauley. He likes seeing people see differently. Think creatively. McCauley also hopes by sharing his work he can encourage other people who dream of doing art to embrace their hopes and work to see their own pieces in the public eye.

 

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