Metalwork & memories
Patrick Downing’s sculptures on display at the Yuma Art Center
FEditor’s note: This story is one in an occasional series featuring artists whose works are on display at the Yuma Art Center.
rom reflecting on the types of scars bullying can leave, to viewing the whimsy of a dragon’s egg, visitors of the Yuma Art Center will each take away their own message from Patrick Downing’s various sculptures which are part of the “Memories” exhibit.
Sculptures by Downing will be on display at the art center, located at 254 S. Main St., through Saturday. Exhibits can be viewed by the public during the center’s daily hours of operation, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The facility is closed on Mondays and Sundays.
“Memories” is one of three exhibits currently on display at the art center. Along with Downing’s sculptures, etchings by artists Antonio Pazos and paintings by Arlene Towne are also featured in “Memories.”
A contemporary artist, blacksmith and instructor, Downing works out of his home studio in San Diego, creating hand-forged sculptures.
According to his online biography found on his website, Downing fuses
traditional blacksmithing with contemporary techniques such as foldforming, which is an origamilike process of folding heated metal into dramatic shapes.
While Downing’s sculptures are contemporary, he can often be seen going back in time to the roots of blacksmithing at the Old Town State Park in San Diego, where he dresses in 1850s period attire while demonstrating techniques to tourists and school groups.
“I seem to be a couple of different people,” Downing said in a phone interview with the Yuma Sun. “Today, the reason you couldn’t call me earlier, is because I was in the 1850s in a shop where I am the state blacksmith for the state of California. And then, when I leave there, I am the most contemporary person I know in doing the stuff that is over there in Yuma — especially those type of very contemporary modern art that is on Main Street over there.”
Downing started down the creative path as a musician and photographer before becoming a goldsmith, later becoming a woodworker. In 2001, he became immersed in working with metal after being invited to hang out with a group of knife makers.
Along with being an artist, Downing also teaches classes on copper foldforming and copper, bronze and steel patina, a green or bronze film found on the surface of bronze or similar metals.
Downing first made his way to the Southwest and exhibited at the Yuma Art Center several years ago, after being scouted by a former employee of the center.
For the most part, Downing said, he doesn’t take part often in exhibits that show his works for long periods. Instead, he mainly participates in street fairs or holds art shows where his creations are strictly for sale.
While in Yuma for a recent artist reception, he noticed that one piece among his works in particular seemed to stand out to a visitor at the art center. The piece, titled “Scars of Bullying,” is a wall hanging that Downing said was inspired by a story he was told of a teacher who wadded up a paper and challenged her students to make it perfectly flat again.
“It’s impossible — much like throughout your life you will have scars of bullying,” Downing said. “One lady was staring at it and was almost in tears. I said, ‘What’s the matter?’ And she said, ‘You see these two little marks down here? These are my cigarette burns.’”
“I didn’t plan that,” Downing added. “Some of the works were very moving.”