Illinois-based artist Justin Gershenson-Gates, aka A Mechanical Mind, creates mini-sculptures of insects and other beings by carefully soldering recycled parts of broken clocks and other objects.
The sculptures, which often fit in the space at the height of the fingers and have an aspect as beautiful and delicate as terrifying, refer to the futuristic imagery of the beginning of the last century, with the aesthetic of machines of that time. Flies, butterflies, spiders, dragonflies, and scorpions are the most frequently represented insects.
The grandson of a railroad man, the son of a gearhead, my life has been filled with all things mechanical. As a child, I would take my toys apart in order to see how they worked, but was never able to put them back together again. Now, I take dead old watches from the top drawers of the world, and rearrange their bits and widgets into whimsical designs. My aim is to show the beauty of the mechanical world, a place generally hidden from the public behind metal and glass. My pieces display the more delicate and ephemeral side of gears, rather than the cold, hard factory feel they normally portray.
Justin Gershenson-Gates
More info: Website, DeviantArt, Etsy, Facebook (h/t: My Modern Met
