My name is Shelly Durica-Laiche of Indio Metal Arts. I have a double major from Portland State University in Sculpture and Graphic Design. I fell in love with steel when I took my first welding class there in 2003. After graduation I went to the Oregon Zoo to sculpt naturalistic elements and create animal habitats, then to Laika to build tiny landscape bits in the Greens Department for the stop motion film ParaNorman.
In 2012 I created Indio Metal Arts where I design and build both decorative and functional steel objects such as free standing sculpture, furniture, architectural elements and trellises. I work full time in the studio, teaching art welding, preparing for art festivals, gallery exhibitions and private commissions. You may have seen me at Portland Open Studios, Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts, Salem Art Fair & Festival, Association of Landscape Designers Tour, Gathering of the Guilds, Local 14, or Cracked Pots.
Salvaged steel is my prefered material for creating sculptures. I collect it from steelyards around the state, the side of the road, through my travels or by donation. Scrap metal has an embedded history and character that folds into each design. I’m inspired by the unique shapes of these found treasures. Sometimes I know right away what I want to build while other times it takes years of contemplation. I’m driven by the design challenge of transforming these recognizable objects into an assemblage with a new voice. The parts lose themselves to create the whole. I seek for the viewer to be surprised by how a material is used in an unconventional way, far removed from its past life. The process is magic to me.
GALLERIES
PUBLIC ART
- Auburn’s Downtown Sculpture Gallery, Crescent, 2024-2025 (install September 2024)
- Gallery Without Walls in downtown Lake Oswego, Knowing Descendant, 2024-2026 (install August 2024)
- Happy Valley City Hall, Flock, 2023-2025
- Milwaukie City Hall Sculpture Garden, Knowing, 2021-2023
- Oregon Society of Artists, Crescent, May – August 2022
- Milwaukie City Hall Sculpture Garden, Crescent, 2019-2021
ART FESTIVALS & EXHIBITIONS
- Portland Open Studios, Gathering of the Guilds, Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts, Hoffman Center for the Arts plant sale, Salem Art Show & Festival, Cracked Pots, Local 14, Portland Home & Garden, Hortlandia and Celebration of Creativity. See ‘events’ tab for full listing.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
- Alberta Street Gallery, “Making Paradise”, May 30th-June 25th 2024
- Newport Visual Arts Center, “Into the Depths”, PNWS group, Newport, Oregon, June-August 2023
- Alberta Street Gallery, Steel & Fiber, July 27th – August 28th, 2023
- Sidestreet Arts, Another Realm, October 6th – 30th, 2022
- Sherwood Center for the Arts, Metal Art Exhibit, June 2nd – August 2nd, 2021
- Alberta Street Gallery, Autumn Invitational, October 1st – 25th, 2020
- Guardino Gallery, Chayo Wilson collaborations, “When Metal Meets Clay”, October 3st -November 24th, 2019.
- ArtReach Gallery, “Making Space”, PNWS & NWSSA, October 12th-15th, 2019.
- Multnomah Art Center, “Unmatched Pairs”, PNWS group, Portland, Oregon, September 2019.
- Lake Oswego Reads, Lakewood Center for the Arts then traveling state wide, February – November 2019
- The C.A.V.E., “Alchemy in 3D”, PNWS group, Vancouver, Washington, April 2018.
- Newport Visual Arts Center, “Variety of Visions”, PNWS group, Newport, Oregon, October 2017.
RESIDENCY
- Frogwood Artists’ Collaborative, May 21st-27th 2023, Sponsorship by CMAG
AWARDS
- Oregon Arts Commission, Career Opportunity Grant, May 2023, Frogwood Collaborative
TOURS
- Portland Modern Home 2019
- Association of Landscape Designers Tour 2016 & 2019
MEMBER
- Pacific Northwest Sculptors Guild: current member. Former board member holding treasurer, secretary and social media positions
- Creative Metal Arts Guild: current member. Former Spring Show Steering Committee member holding treasury and sponsorship positions
PRESS
- CCC News: Columbia Community Connection, Little Art City Strikes Again: Collaboration to bring new display to downtown, by Sarah Cook. This describes the new signage for the Dalles Art Center which I designed and the Community College’s metal fabrication department built, February 7th, 2022.
- Sherwood Gazette, ‘Metal artists to be featured at gallery’, by Leah Burgess, page 9, June 2021, Vol. 26, Issue 6.
- Portland Tribune, Sculpture Livens Up Milwaukie City Hall, by Ellen Spitaleri, page A17, November 12, 2019.
- The Bee, Open Studios Tour, page 15, February 2019, Vol 113, Issue 6.
- Metalsmith Magazine, Portland Oregon: A River Runs Through it, by Judy Wagonfeld, Page 16, Volume 38 No. 2, 2018. This article is an expose on the Portland metal art scene. I was among those interviewed and quoted.
INDIO METAL ARTS 