Hardship and life changes lead artist to full-time career
NORMAN — Sparks fly against the garage wall at Brett McDanel’s home as he welds a heap of metal into the feet of what will become his next work of art.
“It always starts with the feet,” he said. “I get an idea of what it’s doing, the emotion, and it just goes from there. They really build themselves.”
McDanel’s workshop is the birthplace of humanlike sculptures made from used objects, some carefully cultivated from old sheds and salvage yards, others left on his doorstep.
“I have people show up and leave boxes of stuff for me all the time,” he said. “It seems like the stuff finds me.”
After failing at welding a face out of metal, McDanel discovered that old headlights from cars or bicycles made the perfect heads for his pieces. Positioned in just the right way, they can convey a host of emotions.
McDanel said each piece says something about the human condition.
“It translates into a story,” he said.
Over time, McDanel has dabbled in several art genres. Somewhere along the way, he started a construction business and taught himself to weld.
Mentor and inspiration
He was introduced to metal art about 15 years ago during a trip to Santa Fe, N.M., with the late Norman artist and photographer Tom Lee, his employer at the time.
McDanel saw a man selling art that was basically scrap metal on the side of the road.
“I thought I could figure out something that was a little better than that,” McDanel said. “I felt so bad for that sculpture. I wanted to pick it up and give it a hug.”
McDanel said working with Lee taught him a lot about art, and himself.
“Tom was there when I was trying to decide if I was going to be a criminal or do something else with my life. He didn’t believe I’d be a photographer. But Tom knew that there was creativity in me, and he did what he could to help me get it out.”
In 2007, after “a lot of booze and a lot of pills,” McDanel fell into a glass gun case and nearly lost his arm. The next year, he decided to make some changes.
“I went from wanting to hurt people to loving people and having some understanding of where people come from,” he said. “Compassion and empathy were not words I understood when I was younger. Today, they are my strength.”
McDanel recovered from that accident, but another one two years ago resulted in back surgery that left him unable to work.
“I got hit by a drunk driver. At the time, I thought it was the worst thing that ever happened to me. We lost my entire income. I went through some depression,” he said.
Work ‘moves my soul’
A hobby became his life’s work about eight months ago when his wife suggested he do art fulltime.
“Overnight, everything just clicked,” McDanel said. “I love photography. I love stained glass. But this is the stuff that moves my soul.”
His past experiences find their way into his work. Some pieces, he said, are too personal to share.
“There are pieces that will never be seen,” he said. “There are pieces I’ve buried. There are pieces I’ve smashed with a hammer. It’s like cheap therapy. I can do art for me, and me alone.”
In the past six months, he’s finished about 30 sculptures, including commissioned pieces.
His largest sculpture to date, “The Corporate Ladder,” was part of an exhibit at Kasum Contemporary Art in Oklahoma City.
The metal giant, a narrative of what might happen to those who succumb to the temptation of corporate greed, is more than 10 feet tall and features human figures climbing a ladder. At the bottom is a chalk outline of a human.
McDanel said his next large-scale project is about human consumption.
“It’s about what’s behind the cellphone and things we use every day, who built it and how they were treated. We don’t realize the struggle and horror that go into the things we use every day,” McDanel said.
To learn more
For more information about McDanel’s artwork, go online to www.brettmcdanelsculpture.com.