About the Artist

Hoss Haley

My work is the direct result of an ongoing dialogue with metal.  The common perception of metal, especially steel, is that it is a rigid, inflexible material. In fact, it can be both pliable and receptive. It is these characteristics I am interested in exploiting. As I find myself asking more of the material, it in turn pushes me to become more compliant, to constantly rethink my process. Like any long-term partnership my collaboration with steel is complicated. It is defined by conflict, triumph, and surrender. In the end the goal is always to produce something new, something pure, something distilled.

Over the past decade my ideas have grown significantly in scale. At the same time, I have not wanted to give up the subtlety and accuracy of working with hand tools. To reconcile both inclinations, I have built specific machines to mimic the actions of working by hand but on an industrial scale. The machines allow us to manipulate steel plates several feet square in ways similar to how one might shape a small piece of metal with hammer and anvil.

Much of my time in the studio is devoted to research, experiment, and design.  This is crucial to the development of my work. My public artwork is approaching the scale of architecture, so my intentions as a sculptor have evolved. I used to imagine the work being viewed in the round. Now I imagine the viewer having a more interactive experience. The work, more than ever, is completed by this experience and by its surrounding environment.