David Groenjes, Oliver
David Groenjes
Sculptor David Groenjes gives new life to recycled and reclaimed scrap metal by creating extraordinary, one-of-a-kind sculptures of wildlife.
Scrap metal, gears, nuts, and bolts in all shapes and sizes are piled on worktables and strewn across the floor in David Groenjes' studio. The Wisconsin sculptor thoughtfully eyes the raw materials, feeling their heft in his hand, searching for the perfect curve and shape that will become an integral part in the form that is taking shape as a horse, a coyote, a reptile, or perhaps a giant (and intimidating) spider — the next piece of metal sculpture created by the artist.
Groenjes' unique sculptures are predominantly rendered from cast iron, mild steel, and stainless steel parts, 90-to-95 percent of which are reclaimed or recycled from old equipment, cars, tractors, and industrial materials from factories, all of which would otherwise have ended up in landfills or rusting in fields.
David Groenjes, Steamroller
Groenjes grew up and received his education in the Midwest. Always passionate about art and wildlife, he worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service while earning his bachelor's degree in natural resource conservation. A career in the auto repair industry followed, which provided skills that would later serve him well as a sculptor. A move to rural Wisconsin in 2015 finally allowed him to focus on his creative side, with wildlife and the area's natural beauty providing ample inspiration to launch his successful art career.
"I'm grateful for the support and encouragement I received from my family and friends when I started sculpting," he says. "So much beauty that surrounds us is lost to the hurried pace of our everyday lives. Through my art, I strive to remind people of the beauty of nature and to create a heightened appreciation of wildlife and natural resources."
Recently, Art and Color 365 talked to Groenjes about his extraordinary sculpture and the process behind it.
David Groenjes, Junk Dog
You've been interested in art since you were a child, but your earlier career path didn't include artistic expression. How did you make that jump from the auto repair industry to creating your sculpture?
I think art was always destined to be part of my professional life in some way, it was just waiting for the right time. When I was younger, my uncle, who is very artistic, got involved in making animal sculptures from steel and it really inspired me.
After graduating college, the job market in natural resource conservation didn't offer as many jobs as I had hoped. The auto repair industry was something I knew well, was safe, and became my profession, but in the end, something was missing, and that was the creative outlet I've found in my art, as well as a connection with the natural world.
It's interesting that while cars and animals don't seem to have much in common, when broken down anatomically, animals have a very mechanical form and lend themselves well to my style of work.
David Groenjes, Bearded Dragon
Why did you decide to use recycled and found materials in your work?
The satisfaction of repurposing or recycling something that would be sent to the landfill or rust away in a field is a major driving force in using recycled material. There are so many products in our world that are wasteful and get thrown away at a very high rate. My desire is to make meaningful and long-lasting artwork using the least amount of new materials as possible. In addition to that, there is a connection that people have with the sculpture when they start to notice the pieces and parts that they are composed of.
For example, I created a sculpture of a horse and named it "Oliver" because one of its key elements is a piece from a 100-year-old Oliver plow. The history of the elements became part of the art. That couldn't be achieved in the same way with raw or new materials, and I love that I can take these pieces that would end up in trash or lying in a field and give them new life.
David Groenjes, Florida Panther
Your pieces are representational but have abstract elements. How did you develop this technique?
This technique started out of necessity in the beginning as my collection of scrap materials was small and I had no special equipment to handle heavy sculptures. However, as I continued, the desire to represent negative space in my work became a major goal, especially in my larger outdoor sculptures. It's a conscious effort not to take the animal too literally. In the process of simulating fur, feathers, or scales, I focus on the texture and pattern versus specific detail of those elements. I want the artwork to be a bit of a puzzle and the viewer needs to finish putting the puzzle together.
David Groenjes, Raven
How does your creative process work? Do you decide on a subject, then go to the materials to create it? Or, when you're looking at the raw materials, do they ever inspire you to create something in particular?
Some of the ideas for sculptures are inspired by my own outdoor adventures. Others come from books, documentaries, my kids' interests, or maybe even something from my childhood. On occasion, I will find that "perfect piece" that really looks like it would lend itself well to being a prominent element in a sculpture, and then I'll design a sculpture around it. However, most of my work starts out with an idea for a specific sculpture and the pieces fall into place around it.
Find out more about Groenjes' art at www.dgsculptureanddesign.com and @davidgroenjesart.
