Jonathan Leahey
Artist // Sculptor
My experience of collaboration with construction related disciplines goes back originally to the film business, where I worked in Hollywood doing special effects and robotics. Over the last 20 years I have work exclusively as a sculptor, and have created numerous public art works in the United States, Ireland, Belgium and Australia. All public commissions have been completed on time and within budget. These have ranged from monumental stand alone steel works created entirely from objects found on site to kinetic, animatronics installations.
I have collaborated with many different people and in many different situations; to achieve the safe and appropriate installation of public art in city gardens or restaurants (for example, with structural engineers and planning officials from the Los Angeles City Council), to arranging logistics for a film shoot in the Sahara Desert (with the head of a Berber tribe in Morocco), or to create a fire breathing centrepiece for an international arts festival (with electrical engineers in Ireland). In my current practice I work closely with a wide group of people with different skills. Depending on the job these may include welders, architects, combustion technicians, risk managers, structural engineers, electricians, plumbers, gas fitters, crane drivers, interpreters and accountants. Collaboration is the key to a good job. The creation of a sculpture does not stop at the original design – success lies in the bringing together of the right team to get the job done.
