Age: 28
Job: Custom Metal Fabricator
Neighborhood: Wicker Park
Explain your job in 10 words or less: Custom metal fabricator.
How did you get into your profession?
I started making ceramic sculpture in art school but it kept breaking, so after graduation I sought a medium that was more durable. I found John Kearney, the guy who makes the chrome bumper animals that are all over town and he agreed to teach me to weld. I interned with him for 2 or 3 years until I broke some ribs snowboarding that kept me from performing my current paying job as a bike messenger. At this point I was introduced to a couple of guys who had recently started a custom furniture business called Milk Design, and next thing I knew, this became my profession.
Why is your job cool?
I now work at a company called Vector. All of the people that work there, including the owners, are really good people. The work is often interesting and engaging, and when I’m not on the clock, there is a vast amount of tools and resources which the owners are very generous in allowing me to use for my own sculpture projects.
Are you an artist who welds or a welder who’s an artist?
Are those things mutually exclusive? I would be tempted to say that I’m an artist who welds because I started making art long before I started welding, but then my job pays the bills and I never sell any sculpture, so it might make more sense to say that I am a welder first.
What’s the most unusual thing you’ve welded?
All of the sculpture I make is stupid and useless and usually takes up more than its fair share of space. To deem one in particular one more unusual or pointless seems unfair.
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