Perhaps Micah Adams, a Canada-based artist, is not aware of the Canadian law that states ‘No person shall, except in accordance with a license granted by the Minister, meltdown, break up or use otherwise than as currency any coin that is current and legal tender in Canada’.
Probably oblivious of this Canadian law, Micah uses a jeweler’s saw to cut out the embossed animals, figures and objects from Canadian coins of different sizes and denominations. Just one look at his works will take your mind away from its legal aspects.
Micah’s hand-filed works from coins is a testimony to his incredible precision and artistry. Such are the metal cut-outs fun collages and readymades from coins that one can only marvel at the creativity of this artist. Sample his cut-out copper leaves of the Canadian pennies and his intricate birds and flowers taken from foreign currency.
What’s really astounding is Micah’s expertise in hand cutting of metal coins with the basic jeweler’s saw. Cutting at such a small scale is no mean task. He had honed his skills in small scale metal cutting in his art college’s jewelry and metalsmithing department. He developed his own set of skills in cutting coins after gaining expertise in other materials.
Micah, originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, in an interview to Colossal, explains, “I was making small assemblages from things I’d collected over the years, tiny things like toys, bottle caps, beach finds and even teeth. Then, I cast them in metal. They were like tiny bronzes or miniature monuments. That lead me to look for tiny things that were already metal that I could use. So, I looked at coins and their designs for things I could cut-out.”
With such talent, it’s not surprising that Micah’s works are being appreciated all around. He won Best of Sculpture at the 2015 Toronto Outdoor Art Exposition. He is also a resident artist at the metal studio at Harbourfront Center in Toronto, Canada. He’s currently working on a solo exhibition of his coin collages and other works to be held at MKG127 in Toronto in February 2020.
Micah Adams: Instagram | Etsy Store
