Working in a large scale is nothing new to metal sculptor Joseph Gagnepain, a dyed-in-the-wool artist who attended the Chicago Academy for the Arts and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. He found a niche in working with found objects when he assembled a sculpture almost entirely from cast-off bicycles, and since then he has branched out to incorporate all manner of found objects, almost always working on a big scale. Imaages provided by Joseph Gagnepain

Many people who try their hand at metal sculpture are fabricators who know a bit about art. Whether they weld by employment or hobby, they develop an itch to do something purely creative, using skills acquired at work and free time at home to pursue an artist’s inclinations.

And then there’s the other sort. The sort like Joseph Gagnepain. A dyed-in-the-wool artist, he attended high school at the Chicago Academy for the Arts and studied at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Adept at working in many media, he’s a full-time artist who paints murals for public displays and private collections; creates sculptures from ice, snow, and sand; makes commercial signs; and sells original paintings and prints at his website.

And, he draws no shortage of inspiration from the many cast-off items that are easy to find in our throw-away society.

Finding a Purpose in Repurposing Metals

 When Gagnepain looks at a discarded bicycle, he doesn’t just see waste, he sees opportunity. Bicycle parts—the frame, the sprockets, the wheels—lend themselves to the detailed, lifelike animal sculptures that make up a substantial portion of his repertoire. The angular shape of a bicycle frame resembles a fox’s ears, the reflectors are reminiscent of the animal’s eyes, and various sizes of rims can be used in a series to create the bushy shape of a fox’s tail.

“Gears imply joints,” Gagnepain said. “They remind me of shoulders and elbows. The parts are biomechanical, like the components used in the steampunk style,” he said.

The idea originated during an event in Geneva, Ill., one that promoted cycling throughout the downtown area. Gagnepain, who was invited to be one of many featured artists for the event, got the idea from his brother-in-law to use parts from bikes impounded by the local police department to create the sculpture.

“We took the bikes apart in his driveway and we built the sculpture in the garage. I had three or four friends come by and help, so it was kind of a fun, cooperative thing,” Gagnepain said.

Like many famous paintings, the scale at which Gagnepain works can be deceptive. The world’s most famous painting, “Mona Lisa,” measures just 30 in. high by 21 in. wide, while Pablo Picasso’s mural “Guernica” is enormous, more than 25 ft. long and nearly 12 ft. high. Drawn to murals himself, Gagnepain loves working on a large scale.

An insect that resembles a praying mantis stands nearly 6 ft high. A man riding an assemblage of bicycles, one that harks back to the days of the penny-farthing bicycles of a century ago, is almost life-sized. One of his foxes is so large that half of an adult bicycle frame forms an ear, and several of the wheels that form the tail also are from adult-sized bicycles. Considering that a red fox averages about 17 in. at the shoulder, the scale is epic.

Joseph Gagnepain working on his sculpture Valkyrie in 2021.

Running Beads

Learning to weld didn’t come quickly. He was drawn into it, little by little.

“As I got asked to be a part of this art fair or that art fair, I started welding more and more,” he said. It didn’t come easy, either. Initially he knew how to tack pieces together using GMAW, but running a bead was more challenging.

“I remember skipping across and getting globs of metal on the surface without penetrating or getting a good bead,” he said. “I didn’t practice making beads, I was just trying to make a sculpture and welding to see if it would stick together.

Beyond the Cycle

Not all of Gagnepain’s sculptures are made of bicycle parts. He scrounges in scrapyards, rummages through trash piles, and relies on metal donations for the materials he needs. Generally, he doesn’t like to change the original shape of the found object too much.

“I really like the way the stuff looks, especially the stuff on the side of the road that has this abused, rusted look. It looks a lot more organic to me.”

Follow Joseph Gagnepain’s work on Instagram.