As a little boy, Alan Williams loved to make fantastical hybrid creatures using old toys and glue. It was his love for the natural world that made bugs, insects, and weird creatures of all shapes and sizes his favorites. He developed a special affinity for such creatures.
Williams’ interest in metal sculpture was ignited, when, as an eight-year-old, he happened to watch a man making a horse from bits of scrap metal on television. The noise and sparks accompanying the creation fascinated him, but what really impressed him was the man’s protective clothing and the welding helmet!
When Williams was 16, he tried his hand at forging and welding and simply loved it. It became clear to him that this was what he wanted to do. This was the stepping stone he needed for expressing his creativity. After he graduated from Brighton University, England, he set up his workshop from where he now produces his amazing metal sculptures.
Williams’ sculptures are completely handmade and require hours of back-breaking labor in the hot surroundings of the metal forging furnace.
He scours for scrap metal in local flea markets and recycling centers. He uses anything and everything he can lay his hands on…auto parts, cycle components, sprockets, gears, old tools, and metal scrap. His artistic gift is what gives a new lease of life to them.
Williams’ process of creation involves sketching out his ideas in a notebook and then transferring it on a board in the size he wants to create his metal sculpture. The next step is the selection of metal parts that’s appropriate for what he’s making. He then handcrafts each piece by heating and beating it, and welds it to the right place to build his sculpture. For this, he uses traditional metalworking tools. Once the sculpture is complete, he highlights its portions to make it aesthetically pleasing.
It comes as no surprise that Williams’s works have been featured in print and television. A documentary about his work by ‘Gnarled Apple Productions’ went viral. He has also held a number of exhibitions in England, Kuwait, and France.
Alan Williams
