Russell Whiting

Carved steel is a method I have developed during the last 15 years. The first experience I had with carving occurred on the offshore platforms in the gulf, working for the oil companies. As a welder/fitter, I was hired to demolish abandoned rigs by cutting them up with an oxy—acetylene torch. This meant long days of operating the torch, with plenty of time for a wandering mind to explore the reaction between heat and metal.

Out of this exploration came the realization that steel could be carved very much like wood. This led me to purchase my own equipment, so I could push the boundaries further. Immediately I produced my first sculpture and knew I was on to something.

15 years later I feel I have mastered this technique.

I’ve become highly sensitive to the nature of molten steel and can control its response to gravity by how hot it is. It can be dripped, sagged, pierced, cut and gouged, all determined by the application of heat and oxygen pressure. There are many surface textures unique to the torch: smooth, rippled, jagged, even pitted and embedded with slag.

Also there is the aspect of control and chaos. The way I handle the work, by not being concerned with the state it is in (i.e. the steel — rusted, slag encrusted or odd shaped), I am guaranteed some sort of accidental texture or shape to compliment my control of the production, which to me feels balanced.

This method of working steel also changed the look of my sculpture, no longer representational but contemporary because of all the different textures and effects of the torch. It had its own nature and I learned to accept and exploit it. It was an exciting discovery, and people’s reaction to it was very different and encouraging. The change of style even affected the way I carved wood and stone.

I began using more power tools like chainsaws and grinders. This helped me get away from the hand carved mentality of smoothness and perfection, or the absence of the accidental. When I work with these tools they are so much faster than my mind, that I have to develop faith I am going to have an acceptable outcome.

It makes one work their mind, and stretches the boundaries of what is “acceptable” in figurative sculpture. There are no rules; no correct proportions. Physical restriction and logic beware!

Antiquity and other artists influence much of the subject matter of my work, although my understanding of mythology and history is not thorough or academic. It started in play and fantasy and has remained casual and unburdened by truth. Even my reference to Demetré Chiparus and other Art Nouveau work is not because I study them; it’s because I ran the streets of the French quarter, and was endlessly peering into the windows on Royale Street as a teen.

Max Ernst is the other artist who has most influenced my work. His fantastic images were my introduction to modern art, and some of the figures in his paintings such as “Attirement of the Bride” inspired pieces of mine like “Thothea.”