A rust-red scorpion the size of a house rears over the frame, tail coiled overhead in a full arc against a blue sky streaked with high cloud, stinger hanging above the dirt. Shot low and close, so the welded plate-metal body fills the left half and the segmented tail curves right across the top. Facing it a short distance away, a giant grasshopper braces on angled legs, antennae raised, head turned toward the fight. Warm late light rakes across both, picking out every weld seam and hammered panel. Behind them, a bare mountain range runs along the horizon; below, sand, gravel and tire tracks.
Photographed at Galleta Meadows in Borrego Springs, California, where oversized welded-steel creatures stand unfenced in open desert beside the road.
The low angle is what makes this — it gives an eight-ton sculpture genuine menace while the palette stays warm and friendly. Rust red against blue reads strongly from across a room. Excellent for a kid's room or playroom, and composed well enough for a study or a stairwell. Vertical format suits a narrow wall.
