Artist Leah Jeffrey, better known as Bruised Reed Studio, gives scrap metal a new life. She uses discarded materials to create exquisite modern sculptures of animals such as birds, frogs, rabbits, and more. These welded pieces lovingly depict different fauna while also maintaining some of the unique characteristics of the individual parts including gears and mesh wire.

Jeffrey picked up welding during her senior year of high school and has continued honing her skills ever since. After seeing other artists creating sculptures with scrap metal, she was inspired to upcycle old materials with her art. “There is something about taking what was discarded and giving it new life, which intrigues me,” she says on her website. “The process of finding different metal pieces of ‘trash' and seeing the potential of it being used in a sculpture and then trying to accurately create a sculpture that captures the life and attitude of an animal is a process that has my mind constantly working.”

The size of these pieces ranges from palm-sized to the length of an arm. Jeffrey carefully mixes realistic details with an industrial aesthetic. “The process is incredibly fun and has me constantly trying to come up with new ways to make pieces or create different features within the sculpture,” she adds. “When all the pieces come together to create the sculpture, I hope to instill depth so that the viewer may see the sculpture as a whole but on closer inspection be able to pick apart the varying odds and ends of the piece.”

You can keep up to date with Jeffrey's latest projects by following the artist on Instagram.

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