Some reflexions about metallic transformation
Upon discovering the processes of working with metal, I entered into a mysterious and fascinating world. In the act of transforming this material, one gets a feeling of power and respect. To see it change its state, passing from an unyielding icy cold state to a malleable white hot state, is to live through an awe-inspiring experience. Then to be able to fashion it into a harmonious and, at times, unexpected form, by letting one’s imagination run free, to let it cool down following this so it will regain its strength and rigidity while retaining its newly acquired shape, is to experience a tremendous satisfaction, that of having left one’s mark on the universe. What great pleasure is derived from having played with the laws of nature, by bestowing an organic appearance on metal, and from brushing and polishing it so that it reveals its radiance after its trial by fire !
One can be deeply touched and even radically transformed by watching or touching a beautiful item, be it functional or not. And the creative act, in seeking beauty and harmony, has itself become a means of transcendence.
“When I was 7 years old, I touched with my small hand the hard and cold metal of a ploughshare and, intuitively, I grasped the reality of Being, in which these two extremes are being united : matter and spirit.”
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin