Iron Junk Art was founded by Alexandros Papastratigakis and is a combination of art, recycling and engineering inspired by nature and Sparta.
With more than 300 creations from recyclable metals that traveled to 10 countries and 4 continents, the self-taught artist from Sparta started his own artistic personal journey in the world of metal giving life and form to sculptures and decorations of small and large dimensions alike.
The hobby that turned into profession
At the age of 16 I started working with metal. From early on, everything inside me chimed in that metal would be my material and my future. I was literally captivated by the idea of creating something from scratch with my own hands in my early teenage years.
In high school, I decided to choose the field of Mechanical Engineering. My love for this art was such that in order to be able to develop, I decided after school to work pro bono in a machine shop.
To learn arc welding, I used junk and by welding it, I shaped it in various forms. For me things were simpler, humble scraps entered my imagination, combined and came out as figures and objects.
There, my first project came in fruition!
My first and foremost inspirations came from a Spartan blacksmith, who made metal sculptures and decorative objects. He passed away early and the tools he left behind were the first I bought for my own projects. From the TV set, I became acquainted with distinguished artists, such as Natalia Mela and Panagiotis Vassilakis/Takis.
Gradually but steadily I was upgrading equipment and unlocking the secrets of the metal. The hobby developed into a part-time job, until in 2021, when I decided to be occupied with it professionally. The catalyst for this decision was the expression of interest in cooperation from foreign companies such as the “Spartan” group, which is active in the field of sports with head offices in the United States of America.
Wishing to communicate my work to art lovers, who cherish uniqueness, I held 6 solo exhibitions. At the same time, in 2023, I was a special advisor for culture in the Municipality of Sparta.
Possessing an enriched collection of works of art available in Greece and abroad and pioneering private or state initiatives of artistic creation with circular economy and reuse as cornerstones, its sculptures give it a special relief with a historical background:
- Construction of a 3.6m tall skull: A project of monumental proportions that took 8 months and required 500 hours of work, it was the first attempt at a large-scale artwork by Alexandros Papastratigakis that was built in 2020 in honor of the ancestors of Sparta, who fell heroically before since 2,500 years in Thermopylae paving the way for freedom.
- The revival of the mythological episode of the rapture of Europe by the bull Zeus: A work strongly associated with the city of Sparta due to the “homonymous” mosaic [featured on the 2 euro coin] was in 2021 a particular challenge due to the curves and of using moulds.
- Metal bee: Spurred on by a friend’s idea in 2022 to build a sculpture with living creatures in its guts, the visual artist Alexandros Papastratigakis created a project, available online in a documentary, that due to the complexity and the condition of the construction should not burden the bees , took 1.5 years to depict a metal beehive, which houses 5,000 live bees in a glass observation hive.
Brevity is the source of wit
I love frigid iron and I create with it, inspired by nature and the ancient myths of my place. The strength of the Spartan aesthetic flows through my works even when I use recycled metals. All I need is to stay true and loyal to the spirit of Sparta.
The truth is that I am intrigued by creating large-scale works and I do not dissemble my desire in the upcoming future to create a visitable space of a private collection since my roots are in the city where I was born and raised, in Taygetos, in its history, in everything that is familiar and my own. I would be eager for my works to travel, to meet a larger audience and to engage with wider and diverse aesthetic views.
Flattering comments from people, who keep an eye on my work , support me but the negative ones provide me with additional motivation. After all, praise and rejection are fragments of life’s games.
My desire is to continue fiddling with metals despite the feeling of pain that I sometimes harbor by the thousands of sparks and sharp irons.
Visit the collection of works online at www.ironjunkart.com or in person in Sparta at Orthias Artemidos 10 by appointment
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