Carrying a torch for art

You’ve seen his work, now meet Zack Max

By Elias Horn | Manor Ink

Sculptures are cool, because they can tell stories, brighten your imagination and inspire creativity. That is exactly what Zac Max’s big metallic constructions do.

Max is a sculptor who resides in Youngsville, an artist who makes magnificent pieces using found steel and welding tools. He also teaches welding to anyone who is interested – MIG welding mostly, but also TIG and stick techniques. His classes usually run about 30 to 45 minutes, and involve sculpting tricks he’s learned over the years.

“I’ve always been a sculptor, even as a little kid,” Max said. “I’ve been sculpting my entire life, and just never turned around and did anything else.” That’s impressive – creating sculptures from an early age!

“My dad did it since I was born, since before I was born, and so as soon as I could kind of walk and move around, I would follow him into the welding shop, and instead of making sculptures like I do now, I would just have a couple pieces of scrap that I’d lay on the table, and my dad would weld them together for me.”

Max’s dad was a big supporter of his work, and so was everyone else in his family. He likes to think his work has meaning for those who experience it – he wants them to determine their own interpretations for each artwork.

“There’s definitely meaning behind each piece, but I usually don’t give out my exact intent,” Max said. “I just let people interpret the artworks however they want. I get a lot of my ideas from just stuff I see around me – art, movies, cartoons, video games.”

When a sculpture rusts, Max thinks it looks better. But when a piece begins breaking down, he fixes it, restoring it to looking brand new. “I think it looks cooler. There is, like, a you know, maybe 40 to 50 years down the line, a thin sculpture that’s been rusting outside for a couple decades might start to lose bits off of it, but nothing that can’t be fixed. And with a little bit of maintenance, they can last way longer than we can.”