Photo by Bill Franz
Metal sculptor Hamilton Dixon has created some very impressive sculptures in town like the railings in the Dayton Art Institute Rotunda, at the Boston Stoker at the airport, the University of Dayton Serenity Pines, and many other public and private installations around the region and the country.
He began working with metal on an off-shore oil rig in the 1980’s. He decided he liked working with metal but he didn’t like life on an oil rig, so he went to forging school in New Mexico .He attended Turley Forge School in Santa Fe, where he learned basic techniques in forging steel. In 1991 Dixon established himself her in Datyon and has thrived here as a full-time artist ever since.
Dayton Art Institute Rotunda, photo by Bill Franz.
Hamilton has chosen metal as his medium because of its weight, texture and permanence. While Hamilton’s process may be similar to that of an old-world blacksmith, his style is decidedly contemporary.
Hamilton says, “my greatest joy comes at the beginning of the project – the design step. I love deciding how to make piec
es of steel look like a flowing, organic thing.”
