Taking Shape

Turning scrap metal into stunning sculptures

- Ferdinand Holotta

Growing up in Germany after the Second World War, I became interested in creating things out of metal. There were a lot of brass gun shells around, so I used them to make flower vases and hammered designs on to them. In those days, food was scare—I lived on an Island called Sylt in northern Germany, where fish was available but not much else—so I traded the vases for food.

In 1951, at the age of 19, I immigrated to Canada, landing in Halifax and subsequently moving to Ontario.

In later years, black smithing, working with sheet metal, pipe-fitting and welding allowed me to acquire a good background working with metal, which came in handy when I retired and began creating sculptures.