Wasil Info 08

I think everyone has a little bit of an artist in them. Here is a story about how the artist in me bloomed.
Born in Chicago, Greg Wasil learned early to love the world of metal and machines.

His father was a welder, body man, and jack of all trades and

Wasil’s earliest memories are of going into the garage to watch him work.

Soon, he too was pounding, grinding, welding and working with metal.
The pleasures of making, shaping, getting dirty and working with his hands

grew in high school during his favorite classes: industrial arts and pottery.

After graduation he went to work as a body and fender technician.

For the next 30 years, Greg continued to master metal work during his work day

while welding small sculptures and creating pottery in his garage.

In September, 2003, Wasil’s life was completely changed.

He attended the Burning Man festival and saw sculpture on a grand scale.

The variety and originality of art and artists deeply impacted Wasil.
“I came home, quit my job as a body tech and started my full-time career in art.”
Inspired to take his art seriously, Wasil found his work growing bigger and becoming more complex.

An ingenious use of springs and joints allowed his sculptures to move,

to respond to wind and touch. Where other artists spoke through drawing and painting, Wasil found his artistic voice through welding and shaping. Sometimes he added an element of randomness by shooting holes through metal or clay

which allowed light and image to enter the sculptures in intriguing ways.
Like all artists, Wasil was influenced by the people around him. When his daughters were young their favorite bedtime story was “The Dinosaur That Lived in My Backyard.”
“He was a long-neck dinosaur named Bob,” Wasil smiles.
This beloved childhood story inspired Wasil’s largest works yet: sturdy yet whimsical
dinosaurs full of personality--sculptures that could happily live in anyone’s backyard.

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" I think everyone

has a little bit of artist in them."

Greg Wasil (the Waz)

Greg's Work

The artist poses with

a sculpture created for

Dick & Dottie Lamm