"Architecture is a form of cultural art in that it is an inherent expression of the milieu from which it is created. And so it is with my art, but more purely so, in that it is an unfettered commentary of that milieu. My recent art work explores this commentary in greater depth through the incorporation of discarded cast iron and steel objects. These objects are of unique form, having once performed specific functional tasks requiring great durability and strength for extended periods of time. Then, after the wear and tear from what is often decades of human use, the objects are discarded. They are often set out unused, to rust in the weather of each passing season, acquiring the markings only time and use could bestow. It is the embodiment of intense human and mechanical energy dedicated to a specific purpose in adverse conditions. Discarded, it lies awaiting any number of fates. It may get re-used if someone deems it still functional. It may get shipped off to a smelter where its metal will be recycled for a new application. It may get buried in a land fill.

Or, it may be discovered by an artist. While ‘discovery’ is an early and often requirement of the creative process, here it is a truly essential part. Discarded object of such regal bearing are everywhere, but one must be looking. While regal bearing in life, as in artistic materials, is in the eye of the beholder, my eye has become passionately honed for the search for such objects.

The resulting discoveries are so ripe with an inherent ‘energy story’ that I see them as having a very distinct, unique resonant voice. My process of bringing different objects together into an assemblage, is the process of exploring how the different voices come together to form an ‘harmonic resonance.’ The exploration is very much a form of play, in that the only objective is to keep all one’s sense’s fully engaged as assemblages take on their own resonant form. While the resulting assemblage may be abstract or animistic in outcome, I engage the process as an exercise of artistic play, with no preconceived intent."

Rad Acton, 2016