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Introducing Daniel Oropeza, the 'local artist that could'.. with the inspiration of sculpting with ”beaded steel and bronze”, his own techniques, has emerged a new and beautiful aesthetic. Daniel's art is hand made, drop by molten drop. What started as a candle holder became a beautiful chalice. What was a simple fire place screen became one of his inspired trade mark pieces “Encantada”. The art of moveable flower goblets. Now three years later there is an application for his new texture in many venues.
The next generation of inspired art was the introduction of glass; another artistic break through. Glass fused to steel and copper. This is not enameling. He was told by glass artists this out of the box, hair-brained idea could not be done with out massive breakage. He replied “let me get one out of my truck”. Daniel's vision became a reality again, sculpting with molten glass embedded with metal on a large scale. These glass sculptures require countless steps in preparation before he begins working intensely and very carefully in unison with another glass master Jon Oakes. The structure is designed, pieces cut and shaped and a mock-up is made. Hammered, bent, welded, and sculpted first in copper and or steel. Then glass is carefully placed in and around the copper and steel sculpture. The pieces are then carefully combined by welding the sometimes
dissimilar metals while not breaking the glass. The glass is cleaned, patinaed and or torched using Daniel's own techniques, again being told the coloring of copper by hand to resemble the intense color of Raku was not possible; "the color won’t stay", they said. The “Three heat technique” however, worked. The result is simply amazing.
Now entering his 14th year of commercial sales, Daniel Oropeza is receiving wide acclaim. Underpinning every form is a deep and intricate pattern of materials and processes that make every inch of the sculpture a unique, artistic expression. Some hail Daniel as a pioneer in steel and glass sculpture; others see him as an Alchemist.
View Daniels Art at danieloropeza.com or contact him at 949.650.6169 or e-mail:
danieloropeza@live.com |
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