LEN MAKABE

“Iron retains…”

When creating art, as I heat, hit and weld iron, the spirit and energy I devote transfers to the iron. The transferred power is retained in iron form, and lives on as long as is possible. Sometimes, I float among dreams like this while I create my art work.

This power and energy are stored in the iron, and stay alive, radiating a kind of heat. Just as radiation continues its long journey to its next half-life, so the iron I work with lives on.

Human body cells turn over every 90 days. It could be said that I am a totally different person in four days, and even more so in ninety days. However, I continue to exist as myself, and although the cells of my entire body have been replaced and I am physically and materially a completely different being, my spirit continues to dwell in me as before.

Similarly, even after I am gone, my thoughts and ideas poured into iron continue to retain my creative spirit as the iron degenerates, rusts and disappears with time, until the very last trace.

Today, I continue to create with iron as my mind envisions.