ralphettressart

Ralph Ettress is a Steel Sculpture Wizard! 

Located in the Los Angeles area, Ralph is self-taught and has absorbed acute attention to form, detail, architecture, and function-based artwork. His talent arose out of many years working as a general contractor which encouraged his imagination to the potential of his materials. 

Inspired by science-fiction, technology, and popular culture, his work is known for being dynamic while relevant to a multi-generational audience. Ralph believes that art can be functional and enjoyable. 

His art is created through welding and fabrication techniques, which harness the interaction between heat energy and chemicals, resulting in the creation of beautiful, natural finishes on the metal. 

Ralph's art pieces can be found in private collections across the country. 

His studio practice is open for custom commissions and recreations of existing art in his collection. 

Exploring the forms of life in art is a source of endless fascination to me. I feel form is most interesting in contrast, in relationships of juxtaposition and harmony. I am interested in the contrast of shape and line, texture and finish, in an aesthetically intriguing combination. Sculpting in metal is my way to convey an aesthetic that is otherwise difficult to express. 

My pieces are a combination of my spirituality, emotion, desire, subconscious thought, sensation, and philosophy. Inherent to their creation is the belief that the human spirit is continually striving for something better, in a perpetual search for higher understanding. As a result, my works are a final expression of dreams made real, of the thoughts, wishes, and emotions that comprise my personal consciousness. 

My approach to the construction of a piece, and choice of material, is purposeful and significant. The choice to construct and create using metal as my medium reflects a desire to create using something derived from the earth, from essential material. I am intrigued by the idea that the completed sculpture would suggest that its origins were in nature, that this is how it was found...the organic feel that occurs when the craftsmanship does not reveal its origins as man-made, showing no-weld, and revealing the true potentiality and beauty of metal.