Today, we step into the Don Dexter Gallery to witness the industrial alchemy of Josh Voynick. Voynick’s journey to the forge is as storied as the steel he shapes. Starting as a nature photographer in the 1970s, he eventually traded the lens for the torch, spending decades as a professional firefighter and builder. That history of "making"—of framing houses and pouring concrete—lives in the structural integrity of his work.
Voynick’s sculptures, under the banner of The Confluence Artworks, are a masterclass in reassembling salvaged materials to tell a new story. In his hands, hard, geometric steel is forged into something that feels remarkably organic.
Take, for instance, his use of mixed media. In one piece, a section of ancient wood is encased in a translucent, sky-blue resin triangle, cradled by a heavy, hand-twisted iron chain. It feels like a relic recovered from a future archaeological dig.
In another, a heart-shaped wooden slab is vertically split, the fissure glowing with a defiant, crimson light, all held firmly within the jaws of a rusted C-clamp. These works speak to connection and healing—themes central to Voynick’s philosophy.
Based in the mountains of Southern Oregon, Voynick turns to the scrap pile for a challenge. This is most evident in his forged pine tree—a piece of startling natural beauty that he hammered and shaped out of nothing more than an ordinary, discarded shovel. He isn't just welding; he is answering the question: “What would make this better?” by breathing life into the tools of his art form.
