Derek Arnold
Derek Arnold is a 1993 graduate of the Maryland Institute, College of Art. Since 1994 he has maintained and operated his studio in Harford County, Maryland, working primarily in metal.
His sculptural work has been featured in films, magazines, and in public and private collections across the nation and in Europe. His recent projects include architectural metalwork for various buildings in Baltimore and Washington, DC.
Heavy-equipment graveyards are the muse that incites Arnold’s infatuation with designing and welding. “I like working with discarded steel because it gives a glimpse of the past and reminds us how important industry and technology are in our lives,” he said. “I explore avenues to integrate different materials in such a way that the character of each is evident, so the combination has unique meaning and personality.”
Visions
of a “Cateraptasaurus”, a part machine and part creature sculpture, began
forming in Arnold’s mind. His next challenge was cutting up the old machine. “I
have to calculate where to make cuts to create the most out-of-the-ordinary
shape,” he said. “I have hundreds of pieces, and it becomes a game of
concentration—remembering where all these pieces are and visualizing them
fitting together. I try to make the parts look as if they were made to be in my
creatures.”
Arnold enjoys blurring the lines between organic and mechanical forms. “From a distance, the sculpture’s form resembles a dinosaur, but the closer you get you start to see all the mechanical connections,” he said. “ It almost looks like the creature could walk if it was hooked up with hydraulics to become a functional machine to lift rocks.”
Joining
this mathematical puzzle, is a kinetic sculpture of stone and steel. “I
began designing this piece thinking of a visual layout for the seven flagstones
and designed the steel around them,” he said. “ At inception of the piece, Arnold knew he had to figure out how
to balance 3,000 lbs. of kinetic weight. “Because it’s spinning, every degree
of rotation has to be perfectly balanced,” he said. This sculpture is motion-driven by a motor and gear reduction to
achieve a range of speeds. The entire piece is 15 ft. tall and is bolted to 8
tons of concrete. “It’s a combination of organic and mechanical imagery with a
unique sense of randomness,” he said.