Associate Professor of Art, Michael Hough, explains to the attendees of “Houghs’ Sabbatical Works 3,” how he spent six weeks driving around the country gathering inspiration from others’ artwork for these pieces.

Up close of “Mask: Dalya.” These masks were inspired by Hough seeing faces while messing with metal. The noses of masks “dalya” and “leslie” are made from leftover railroad pieces.

Most pieces were finished with a clear coat to keep the original metal color. “Circle Composition: Traction” (middle), “Snippit” (Far Left), “Figure” (Far Right.)

Hough stated that most of the bigger pieces in the show took about two weeks to finish while the smaller works took only about two days minimum, adding that he also has trouble knowing when to stop adding parts to his work. “Circle composition: Traction” (Far Right), “Snippit” (Middle), “Implied Function #2” (Far Left.)”

“On The Rim.” Hough said these sabbatical works were heavily inspired by Dr. Evermore’s sculpture park “Forevertron,” located in Wisconsin. During his six week trip, Hough was very intrigued by the “weird machines” on display.

Cai Johnstone-Yellin standing next to their favorite piece in the show, “Walking.” Johnstone-Yellin loves the intricate details and putting all the pieces together. “Metal working is like a puzzle with no wrong answer,” said Johnstone-Yellin.

When asked to give a quote to sum up his sabbatical, Hough stated “the art of play.” Also mentioning “this shows how much creativity is flowing while I’m working.” Close up of sabbatical work, “Circle Composition: Traction.”

Hough stated that “Mask: Emily” was named after his niece-in-law. The four masks featured in the show; Dalya (Far Right), Emily (Top), Leslie (Bottom), William (Far Left), are all named after people Hough knows. Made by welded steel assemblage.

Hough used brackets and parts from vehicles and liked how some looked like human body parts. He limited himself to those materials and used everything as found. “Circle Composition: Arced” (Front), “Never Ending Column” (Positioned middle), “Circle Composition: Loopy” (Far left.)