12 metal men

Zac Shavrick’s huge metal sculpture “Dumpster Divers,” set to debut in Chester

By RICHARD A. ROSS

CHESTER, NY — Move over, Iron Man and Transformers and other Hollywood fantasy metallic figures of note. You’ve been upstaged by something far more impressive and durable. With his heated imagination, blazing torch and ingenious artistic vision, Zac Shavrick has forged “Dumpster Divers,” a collection of 12 metal workers clambering out of a 270-cubic-foot dumpster.

The metal sculpture, the latest brainchild of the former Liberty High School metal sculptor, will adorn the lawn in front of Brakewell Steel Fabricators in Chester.

Brakewell CEO Dan Doyle, who wanted something “uniquely whimsical to adorn the front lawn in front of Brakewell, commissioned the sculpture.

Heads are bound to be turned by Shavrick’s rendition of the 12 metal behemoths, each of which holds a tool or is operating a machine related to the process of metal working.

Shavrick began tinkering with metal at age four as he wandered around the studio of his dad, Barry Shavrick, in Ferndale. The elder Shavrick, a former ironworker, had adapted the skills of his former trade to begin crafting objects of Judaica, including menorahs and mezuzahs.

Soon young Zac was fashioning objects out of bolts and scraps. Years later, his works were being purchased by the rich and famous, including Ozzy Osbourne and Trent Reznor.

Over the past 20 years, Brakewell Steel Fabricators has provided father and son with scrap metal. Those oddments of metal have been magically transformed by the young artist into an array of stunning metal figures. Some of them adorn restaurants and shops; others have even become part of the landscape of New York City. Several articles about Shavrick have appeared in The River Reporter, beginning with a July 29, 2004 Youth in Focus article entitled, “Magnificent Manifestations in Metal.”

Brakewell Steel Fabricators is located at 55 Leone Lane, Chester, NY 10918, about an hour’s drive north from New York City. An inaugural reception will be held there on September 21 at 2:00 p.m. For additional information call 845/701-7825 . To see more images go online to zacmax.com.