Product Description
Man with Missing Teeth & Birds on Hair Wall Mask Sculpture, Haitian Metal Art, Croix-des-Bouquets
Size: 23"x23"
This piece is hand cut from recycled 50 gallon steel drums. Both ends of the drum are removed and placed inside of the remaining cylinder along with scrap paper, dried banana or sugar cane leaves. It is set on fire, to burn off any paint or residue. When cooled, the drum is cut down the side and flattened out to create a "metal canvas" of approximately 3' x 6', upon which the design is drawn. Using hammer, chisel and various primitive tools, the shape is cut and the various decorative patterns are pounded into the metal, creating a unique and treasured piece of primitive art. The finished design is coated with a protective finish. Can be hung indoors or outdoors.
Care of Sculpture: Made of recycled steel, this sculpture will rust over time if it is exposed to the elements. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, some people like the look of a weathered patina. If that isn't you, don't despair. Taking five minutes once a year to apply a spray-on enamel clear coat will keep your sculpture looking exactly the same as the day you bought it.
**Although we try our best to photograph in a way that best represents the color, due to the nature of photography, lighting, computer resolution, other factors, colors may vary slightly in person.
Artist Bio
Fritz Calixte
His fingers taped with small bandages, Felix Calixte sits beside the yellow wall of the artists co-op, gently pounding a piece of metal that he holds steady with his feet.
He grew up in the slums in Port-au-Prince and says that before he became an artist he was in school only when his parents could afford it. He likely would have grown up poor and in a gang, he says. But he happened to see the metal artists at one point and began the long apprenticeship of learning how to seek out the best drums and mould the steel sheets. The metal called him, he says. And his life was changed.
