Chapel Hill recycled metal sculptor a 'performance artist at heart'

Reuven Fields, like his artwork, might not be considered typical in any way, shape or form.

A 49-year-old Israel native, Fields is a recycled metal artist, using anything that he can find in the local junk yard to sculpt. His works have been featured in competitions and festivals across the state.

His studio on N.C. 54 is marked by large pieces of metal work and an iron sign strung with Christmas lights. An old van drips a green goo in the drive, while scrap metal and tools litter the ground near the front porch.

Growing up in Israel, Fields said he preferred to be involved in performance art. He created Pah Theatre, a band of actors who performed short plays under Fields’ direction, in the early 1990s.

He studied soft metal design at Vitzo College in Haifa, Israel, and realized he wanted to pursue more tactile art.

But Fields didn’t want to stay in Israel. There was no opportunity there. If he wanted to succeed, he would have to go to the U.S., his friends told him. He moved to Chapel Hill seven years ago.

“I didn’t know where to start in America,” Fields said. “I just sort of drifted here.”

“Gandalf, for me, is a role model,” Fields said, referring to the wizard in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. “He lets them discover things without telling them outright.”

Fields said, like Gandalf, his artwork is meant to let people draw their own conclusions about life and nature, not to tell them what to think or how to act.

“It’s more powerful if the people feel like they’ve figured it out themselves. I just kind of send them in the right direction,” he said.

Fields’ art spans from miniature butterflies sprinkled through his yard to life-sized horses rearing over his driveway. Each work is carefully welded through a “secret process” until it is ready to be sold.

His sculptures have been displayed at the Duke Homestead in Durham for 2nd Saturdays and the Festival for the Eno in Chapel Hill.

“Hanging in the Balance,” a recent piece of his, now stands in front of a library in Salisbury as a part of the Salisbury Sculpture Show.

Fields’ current project, called “Mother Nature,” includes three large metal figures that each depict Mother Nature differently.

The first complete sculpture, Mother Nature Earth, is a six-foot tall woman covered with living vegetation. Mother Nature Water and Mother Nature’s Diary, still in progress, will complete the trio.

Fields next plans to enter his work into the Scrapel Hill Art Competition and Exhibition, hosted by University Mall.

He said that the $2,500 prize would give him financial stability.

“That’s how I continue working on my art,” he said.

Some of Fields’ notable personal pieces are life-sized metal horses. One stands just off of the highway and others reside in his yard.

“As an artist, you kind of have to be wild and free,” Fields said. “The horse represents freedom of the spirit.”

But the pride of his collection is a musical waterfall.

Water flows up to a flower-shaped vase and tips to spill down the side, creating a symphony of chimes, bells and gongs.

“My interest has always been more kinetic,” he said. “I’m still a performance artist at heart.”

Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.