Russian sculptor creates large-scale metal art

This immense maternal figure represents the mother of Aleksandra Ivleva who works in Russia under the name Weld Queen.

It stainless steel sculpture took a year to make at three meters high and weighs 300 kilos.

“It took me a year to create this sculpture because I wanted to achieve the quality of an item of jewellery. This is my internal requirement of this work, that it must be as delicate as jewellery. While its dimensions are three by three meters, it is still a jewellery piece that size”, she said

The arms of the work are huge enough to cradle an adult. And Ivleva has no problem slipping into it to feel like a child again.

“I like lying in her arms, it gives me such a feeling of support, trust, I feel I am not alone, something is carrying me along in life, leading me, and it is a very nice, comforting feeling of being protected”, Ivleva said

The artist learned her trade at the Moscow Polytechnic College. But despite her ability to work with metal, the important thing is the artistic idea. “Welder? No, I am an artist. Welding is just a tool for me, a material, a method, through this I communicate my ideas to the world.”.

Ivleva’s work is already attracting international interest. She is currently preparing the next Burning Man festival, a gathering in the Nevada desert, that attracts artists and creatives from the world over every year.

Like almost all of her sculptures, it was an interactive experience in which Burning Man participants could sit and enjoy the sunrise and sunset over the Black Rock Desert.

“It was a fantastic experience, full of tremendous energy, to be at Burning Man for the first time, to come to the desert and do my very first installation in the United States without any previous experience of working in the desert”, the artist added.

Ivleva is currently preparing the next Burning Man festival. Her sculpture “Airfield 2.0 Tower”, resembles a plane taking off from the ground.

AP