Richard Swenson, an artist exhibiting his work at the Art Stroll at the Karen Wray Fine Art Gallery, was raised on a farm in North Dakota, in a very art-free environment. He said, "The farmers in the area maybe had a picture of grandpa on the wall. But that was it."
Before joining the Navy SEALs Swenson worked with horses a lot and attended agricultural college. After his time with the SEALs he went to the University of North Dakota to study nuclear physics. He went on to have a science career studying the behavior of sound in the ocean (anti-submarine warfare), which enabled him to travel all over the world.
"In my leisure time I visited museums," he said. At this point he was in his mid-thirties, and wasn't interested in specific artists, or art history, or anything formal. He said, "I just like to look at the stuff. Especially in Polynesian areas."
When he retired he had yet to create a single piece of art. He said, "My wife (an epidemiologist) is younger than me and she was super busy and I needed to find something to do to get out of her hair."
So he started to collect John Deere tractors. Soon he amassed and restored a complete collection of all the John Deers built in the 50's. In the process he had accumulated a ton of spare tractor parts. "i started looking at the geometry and making figures out of it," he said. He put his completed sculptures in the yard of a county restaurant in his neighborhood in Mississippi.
When he started to exhibit his work he was amazed by how people liked to look at his scrap metal art. A couple of years ago he displayed 30 pieces, in conjunction with an exhibit from the creators of Sesame Street, at the Louisiana Arts and Science Museum, and it was a very successful show. "The guards at the museum said that it was the best show they ever had."
Just last weekend he won the Best in Show at the Lacombe Art Show.
"Here I am, a physicist. I had no idea that this was art. I just think it's fun to do," he said. "I simply weld this stuff together."
He may say that it's a simple thing, but I've been to his house, and it is bursting with sculptures. My favorite is a life sized seal hung high on the wall, so it looks like its swimming. There are other animals too, like a llama, pigs, rabbits, fish and horses. He said that horses and fish are his favorite things to do, because he grew up on a farm and understands horses, and did a lot of skin diving as a scientist, and has spent a lot of time observing marine wildlife. Right now, in his garage, he's working on two 15' whales!
He had an interesting theory about why people are drawn to his sculptures, and want to spend a lot of time looking at them. He thinks that the pieces of scrap metal have something to say. They add to the figure. When people recognize the parts as something that they've used or something they remember, it adds a depth of meaning that he couldn't achieve working with bronze or marble.
"If I make something with kitchen utensils, women will like it," he said. "Then if I make something with car parts, men will be drawn to it."
