Rusty
Creations
Rusty
Ziegler—Artist Statement
My family has been the biggest influence on my art, and on my life.
I received my business mindset, and technical skills from my dad.
I got my free spirit and freedom to express myself from my mom.
My parents have always encouraged me, giving me the confidence to try new
things. I have two older siblings
who have also influenced me. My brother, Zach, graduated from the University of
Wisconsin—Whitewater with a degree in finance.
My sister, Rebecca, graduated from the University of
Wisconsin—Whitewater with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree as a member of the
class of 2000. Rebecca owns and
operates the RAZ Gallery of fine arts in Reedsburg, WI.
My art stems from a fascination and obsession with metal. It’s amazing to me the vast variety of things that can be crafted out of metal, steel in particular. Major influences on my artwork have been Rebecca Ziegler, Dr. Evermore, and Ford Motor Co. My sister, Rebecca, has always been a true artist, and often included me while we were growing up. Dr. Evermore’s fantastical metal sculptures have fascinated me since I first saw them on highway 12 between Baraboo and Sauk Prairie a few years back. The first metal sculpture that I created was a 250-pound deer guard for my 1978 Ford Bronco.
While I was growing up my career plans changed often. Serious considerations before I settled on business were:
veterinarian, engineer, pilot, and President of the United States.
I figure President can wait. Pilot
will probably be in my future. I
think the other two, veterinarian and engineer, are included in my work.
I put my love for animals into my artwork.
If a sculpture falls off of my welding table and looses a leg, I don’t
have to shoot it, I can fix it. My
artwork is all about engineering. I
would have just as much fun building a bridge as welding a sculpture, but for
liability reasons, I think I’ll stick to the sculptures.
That brings me to my current career choice--business.
I’m learning how to make a living doing all of the things that I love.
I don’t have a set creative process.
When I start a sculpture, I have an idea of what I’m making about 25%
of the time. Even then, it is a
very vague idea. The majority
of my sculptures start out with me taking a look at what scrap metal I have
available. After I decide what I am
making, there is about a 50% chance that it will still be that when I finish.
If I’m welding a bird, and it happens to strike me as a dog, it’ll
end up as a dog. If I’m welding a
footstool and I make the legs too long, I have myself a chair (it’s happened).
I have gotten a number of ideas for sculptures from commissioned art
requests (a.k.a. friends that want gifts for their girlfriends).
I have a drive to create. I
love the process of a sculpture coming together.
I’m not too interested in possessing the finished product therefore I
have little trouble parting with my work. The
enjoyment for me comes from digging through a barrel of scrap metal, and fusing
it into a sculpture that is much, much more than just metal.
Somewhere in the process it develops a personality all it’s own.
The greatest moment for me with my artwork is taking a last look at my
finished sculpture, then sticking my hands back in the scrap barrel and
discovering what I will create next.