In my spare time, I really get a kick out of building things out of steel. I used to get steel scraps and use them to build random figurines and statues. I remember I once made a life-sized steel statue of Jerry. I called it ‘Jerry Steelfield’. I know, the pun is terrible. This statue inspiration came from one of the TV episodes. There’s an episode where Kramer starts making statues out of different types of pasta. Using fusilli, he creates a figurine of Jerry doing stand-up. Something about this really resonated with me so I decided to create a life-size statue of Jerry doing stand-up, but out of steel. Honestly, I’ve never been so proud of anything in my life – and that’s coming from someone with two kids!
I buy my steel from a few local steel suppliers in the Melbourne area. How much steel I buy depends on what I’m making. If I am making something small and I don’t have a particular design in mind, then I will scavenge steel suppliers for any scraps or cut-offs that I can use. These pieces of steel often give me inspiration for my projects. I’ll have no idea what I’m creating but I’ll let myself be inspired by the shape and appearance of each steel-cut.
As of late, I’ve been wanting to experiment with creating robots out of steel. This time I actually do have a design in mind after talking to a steel fabricator. Melbourne is just such an innovative place to live and it’s funny to find out that you’re not the only one who is interested in using steel to build statues. The steel fabricator wants to join me on my journey of making my robot. I’ve never worked on one of these projects with another person before, so I’m very excited but also a little bit nervous. We shall see how it goes!