" The Holes In My Ill Fitting Armor " ( self portrait ) Sculpture

Hello, my name is Scott Wilkes a.k.a Ironheart. I am not going to have a stuffy bio, I’m going to just tell it like it is. I reside in the wonderful City of austin Tx and although a transplant I have been here since 1988. I think My artistic nature started pretty early in life, even before I started school. I was known for taking my toys and taking a hammer to them and then taking the parts and gluing them back together in new forms. It didn’t please my parents but when I started in on the neighbor kids toys that came to an end. After that I was more fond of old cardboard boxes and styrofoam packing materials.. Some shears , some duct tape, elmers glue.. and I would make all sorts of things. But those don’t hold up well. Through the years I did all sorts of things and never really thought of as it was art but in retrospect I guess in a way it was all a learning process that lead to my Art. It wasn’t until high school that I took an actual art class from a wonderful teacher. I wish I could remember That teachers name. She was pivotal to my world and introduced me to DALI , ESCHER , H.R GIGER. Later I found OLIVIA, SORAYAMA , VARGAS , NAGEL . They are all major influences. There are many more but they are the ones who stand out the most. This will lead into my education as far as art.. I didn’t get more than a couple years of actual teaching ,,, but what I did get, I think was substantial. And I took it from there. It did take 20 more years .. But I’m ok with that. I made a career out of welding which in a way is an art form itself which takes many years to truly master. After 20 years of it is when I began to sculpt for I finally felt confident with the medium along with having a life change that flooded me with emotions that I had to express in some sort of constructive fashion. I truly enjoy taking a medium which in so many ways is usually considered cold, hard, rigid and rough and making something which conveys softness, warmth, movement and flow. I also would like to say a special thank you to R.S.S and more specifically to Don White for the use of the hydraulic shear to cut all the pieces and his confidence in my artwork. He was the toughest boss I ever had, but helped shape me in to the man I am today... thanks Captain Cowboy !