Recycled Aluminum Sculptures

E. Moises Diaz discovered he was an artist in 1995, while he and his wife were still starving students. His wife wanted his opinion on a piece of artwork for her mother's birthday. Although he really liked the piece, he realized that they couldn't afford it. So, with chivalry as his guide, he offered to create a piece of artwork for her mom. After a few hours of hysterical laughing on her part, she agreed to let him try. The artist within was released, he has been creating paper and aluminum sculptures ever since. He developed a way to apply paper sculpting techniques to aluminum sheeting and stainless steel. But his most intriguing sculptures are actually made from polished and recycled aluminum cans! His grassroots style of contemporary art represents clean simple lines in the form of skylines, human forms, and floral sculptures.

He starts by sketching out his idea on paper. He then cuts them up to flatten them. Using shears, he cuts his pieces freehand. He scores and folds all of the pieces in order to create an initial layout. Then he paints a mat board with acrylics to create a colorful background. Once dry, he uses low-relief embossing techniques to detail specific pieces. Then he applies adhesive to the aluminum pieces and mounts them to foam core, which will give the work dimension. Those parts are then attached to the background and allowed to dry.

To finalize each work of art, he does all of his own matting, framing and fitting. Aluminum is suddenly reborn as a three-dimensional image that illustrates still life with a hint of abstract thought. E. Moises Diaz wants his audience to experience life's structures from a different perspective.