It was a steel kiwi taking flight with helium balloons last year that caught the attention of new followers and customers of metalwork artist Nicolas Lupacchino.
At the time, he was working for Metalworks Wānaka in Ballantyne Rd, but he has recently taken flight himself and gone alone in the growing world of sculpture art.
“I just had the opportunity to do this and found the workshop was for lease. I knew my work was selling so I was waiting to find my own space.”
Lupacchino’s pieces sell for tens of thousands of dollars, and can take between one and six months to make .
“It’s been flat out. It wasn’t easy at the start, now [it is] quite busy and I have commissions.”
The market had become competitive with other local metalwork artists but there was room for all, he said.
“There are a lot of metal artists, and everyone has a different style.”
Lupacchino specialises in wildlife sculptures, and said they seemed to be popular among Wānaka and Central Otago art collectors.
“I think it’s because it is good outdoors, they last a long time and look nice in the elements. The pieces I make, they last for generations.”
He was inspired by New Zealand’s outdoors, having hailed from a more flat country, Belgium.
“I think New Zealand … with the wildlife, all the landscape — it is a country that is well preserved,” Lupacchino said.
Lupacchino moved to New Zealand seven years ago and, while he missed his family, he found the opportunity for his line of work was endless in the Upper Clutha.
He had been working in welding and fabrication since he was 20, and began making sculptures about five years ago.
The 29-year-old began his New Zealand experience travelling around as a welder, living in Whangarei, Nelson, Raglan and eventually Wānaka.
His latest sculpture, a tui made of steel with a 5m wingspan, is called Rise and is perched at his Luggate workshop beside the old flour mill.
“This piece has been a six-month project and is now almost complete. It’s due to leave my workshop soon to be installed on a cycle trail near Hamilton.”
While he did not want to reveal the price, he said the bird weighed about half a tonne, and would be transported north in a special truck that could take the weight.
The steel was built to rust only on the outside and because the bird was special, the tiny tufts under the chin were made to keep on shining.