Today we celebrate the birth of Charlie “Tin Man” Lucas,
born in 1951, in Autauga County, Ala. Lucas was one of 14 children born to a
father who was an auto mechanic and taught his children how to dismantle an
engine and put it back together. Lucas’ grandfather was a gunsmith, his
grandmother was a weaver and his great-grandfather was a blacksmith—it was
almost pre-determined for Lucas to end up working as a sculptor with scrap
metal. That much was evident from an early age, when he would make his own toys
out of household items and scraps instead of playing with his siblings.
Lucas left home at the age of
14, working and travelling from town to town as a painter to support himself,
even making it as far as Florida. Six years on the road passed by before he
returned to Autauga County to reunite with his childhood sweetheart Annie
Lykes. They married in 1971 and had six children of their own. Lucas continued
to work as an artist, painting more often than sculpting, but in 1984 he
sustained a serious back injury that kept him bedridden for almost a year. A
devout man and poor at the time, Lucas prayed for the inspiration to do
something with his work that had never been seen or done.
His prayer was answered, as
Lucas returned to metalworking with a newfound fervor and passion that drove
him like nothing else. He began constructing his original and unique sculptures
from scrap yards and dumps, turning objects that others threw away into
incredible works of art. To this day, Lucas incorporates his whimsical and
personal vision in his folk art. Even though the junk metal may look crude and
ugly, Lucas makes it into something beautiful as his reflection on life—there
are ugly and crude moments, but it is up to us, as our own artists, to make it
into something amazing. A prime example of this is "Girl with Balloons," which
resides in the Georgia Museum of Art’s permanent collection.
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| "Girl With Balloons" Charlie Lucas |
Lucas maintains many homes,
including in Selma, Ala., where he used to collaborate with his neighbor, the
late Kathryn Tucker in making this “scrap art”. Additionally, Lucas has written
multiple books, including “In the Belly of the Ship,” a collection of stories,
and “Tin Man,” an autobiographical work.
If you’d like to have a look at
Lucas’ work, then we invite you to come to the GMOA, find the girl with the
bike-wheel balloons and celebrate with her today!
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