Client: Evergreen Engineering

Overview

Poseidon was a commission subsequent to Medusa, as he was to pair with her, as two parts to a whole Greek-inspired, mythological scene. Poseidon was a private commission from my previous clients, for whom I built Medusa. He stands 15’ tall, a composite of welded steel, both reclaimed and fabricated, with 2” ocean blue marble eyes. His beard, mustache, eyebrows, fins and “hair” were all cut from saw blades.

Goals

The commission originally asked for a sculpture to compliment, pair, verse and face Medusa, thus Poseidon ended up being 15’ tall. My studies of human and fish anatomy suggested his anatomical/fantastical correctness and body size. I didn’t want Poseidon to be a typical “Merman,” rather I aimed for more of a villainous energy, masculine and animalistic in design, rooting his anatomy and anthropomorphism in predator fish: the great white shark, the eel, and most importantly, the lion fish.

Process

This was mostly a solo endeavor, as far as design and build. My younger brother and fellow metal worker, Johnny, helped with welding, as did my apprentice and friend Zac Bristol. I grew up drawing comic books, so Poseidon began with a series of sketches to determine his style and look with my clients. A $2,000 budget allowed me to upgrade my tools and purchase much reclaimed steel from thrift stores, habitat restore, eBay, flea markets and fabricated parts from Metal Distributors. An award winning marble maker at Kind Creations was responsible for his eyes. My clients were also engineers, so his installations and movements had large equipment to help, as well as much heavy lifting.

Additional Information

I have always been obsessed with Greek mythology, and Poseidon is such a legendary character and timeless archetype, so to create a sculpture that towered over the viewer was an absolutely amazing experience.