JeffreyFiloSculpture

About 10 years ago, I took a few classes in metalworking at studios near me in Chicago and I started making occasional metal art pieces for my family and friends. This simmering interest has ignited recently into a new passion and has become a larger part of my life as has making my work available to a broader audience.

When I was a young engineer I designed in steel every day, but eventually it was at too much of a remove to hold my interest. I turned away from that discipline to two decades in the technology industry where I work to this day. Metalworking feels like a homecoming to something that has been waiting for.

I approach metalworking as a joyful exploration of pattern and variation, texture, positive and negate space, and flow through my pieces to create enduring visual interest. I love making things with my hands so I work the materials with handheld tools as much as I can. This gives natural variation to the pieces and connects me with a strong direct physical and emotional engagement to the piece.

My metal art is inspired by the natural world and our connection to it: the patterns and variations of the plants, stone, sunlight, and water. Starting from a general sketch, I let the piece evolve organically as I work. Patterns in tension emerge as I incorporate smaller bits of material into the large piece, rather than being designed in from the start. Pieces offer divergent flows that engage you as you decide which path to take through the piece.

My small 200 sq.ft. studio is in the basement of my 1916 Craftsman house in the Frank Lloyd Wright Historical District in Oak Park, Illinois.