Sculpting the Wild from Steel

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The first thing you notice in Wendy Klemperer’s animal sculptures is not the steel itself, but the life inside it. From a distance, her elk seem to rise out of the earth, antlers lifted in watchful stillness. Wolves leap mid-stride, their bodies stretched in a blur of motion. Birds, skeletal yet soaring, hold the sky with fragile grace. Though made from scrap, these large scale sculptures pulse with energy, reminding us that vitality can be drawn from even the most unlikely materials.

Klemperer’s art is not about static representation but about presence. Each animal sculpture is a gesture, a fleeting moment translated into steel. Her torch is a pencil, her arc welds become lines in space. What emerges are forms that resist stillness, creatures that seem ready to shift, breathe, or look back at you with recognition.

A Scientist Who Turned Toward Wonder

Her journey began not in an art studio, but in the world of science. Trained in biochemistry at Harvard, Klemperer studied life at its smallest scale. But soon the precision of science gave way to the pull of wonder, leading her to Pratt Institute, where she earned her B.F.A. in sculpture in 1983. The scientist transformed into a welding artist, blending anatomy with intuition. Her creatures hold the accuracy of bone structure, but also the wild spark of spirit.

The Alchemy of Scrap

For decades, Klemperer has worked as a welding artist who transforms discarded steel into art. She scours salvage yards for twisted rebar, weathered beams, and corroded pipes. Through welding, these fragments are reborn as large scale sculptures that stretch across landscapes and public parks. Her process is physical and improvisational — each piece of steel a stroke in a three-dimensional drawing.

The result is skeletal yet alive. Fragile yet resilient. Each animal sculpture feels both ancient and immediate, embodying the tension between survival and vulnerability.

Pandion Haliaetus, 2019, Salvaged steel mounted on granite base, approx. 132 X 72 X 60". Collection of Newburyport Sculpture Park and Clipper Rail Trail, Newburyport, MA

Listening to the Animals

Animals are not symbols in Klemperer’s world, but teachers. She observes their postures — the wary stance of a wolf, the tensile lift of a deer, the sudden stillness of a bird. Her animal sculptures carry these states of being, distilled into steel. They remind us that the line between human and animal is thinner than we think, that the same energy moves through all living things.

Sculpting in Wilderness and City

Klemperer’s career has taken her from city foundries to wilderness landscapes. Residencies at the Skowhegan School, MacDowell Colony, and Denali National Park placed her in close contact with the raw environments that continue to inspire her. Her large scale sculptures have appeared at Socrates Sculpture Park, the DeCordova Museum, and the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. Permanent installations stretch across the U.S. and even into China, placing the work of this welding artist in both rural and urban settings.

Balancing her time between Brooklyn and Nelson, New Hampshire, she lives in two worlds: one of industrial clang and one of quiet natural rhythm. Her animal sculptures embody both.

Artist Statement

The imagery that pervades my work reflects a lifelong fascination with animals. To make the large scale sculptures I search scrap yards for industrial refuse ravaged by usage and demolition. Bent and twisted, such pieces contain energy and potential new life. My welding process is a kind of three dimensional gesture drawing. A network of steel lines builds a skeletal form containing both presence and absence.  I investigate the body language of animals to express a feeling or state of being, with motion conveying emotion. Focusing on the animal realm seems no less important to me than on that of humans- observing the continuity between all forms of life on earth.

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Renewal, Connection, Continuity

At the heart of Klemperer’s practice is transformation. As a welding artist, she reclaims discarded steel and reshapes it into something sacred. Her large scale sculptures echo the pulse of the wild, showing us that nothing is wasted, nothing is separate, and life continues in unexpected forms.

For Wendy Klemperer, sculpting is more than creation — it is listening. Listening to animals, to landscapes, and to the deep continuity of life itself. Her animal sculptures ask us to listen too, to find the wild spark within and honor the resilience that binds us all.