The finish is somewhat of a different story.

I have been fascinated with the nuances, tools, and perfectionism in the custom auto rebuilding and painting industry. There is one step in the process of a good auto paint job that I think is the most visually interesting:  It’s not the finished, glossy, perfectly smooth final coat that we see during the car shows, but an intermediate step where the layers of previous paint, new steel patches, body filler, and sanding marks are exposed (your neighbor’s Trans Am under a tarp in their garage is usually in this stage).

I used sheet metal forming techniques from the custom auto and motorcycle industry to make the sculpture, and I wanted to distress the finish to give the same visual impact that those incomplete car bodywork projects have.