‘Man of Steel’

For decades, Sumarsono, 72, has dealt with used iron and steel. He dealt with these hard and heavy materials and turned them into beautiful artworks. Some of his artworks are brought to several countries.

KOMPAS/DEFRI WERDIONO

Sumarsono, a sculptor who specializes in creating installation art using repurposed scrap metal, stands next a rack filled with a variety of found materials on Saturday (2/11/2019) at his workshop in Malang, East Java.

The workshop owned by Sumarsono, who is familiarly called Ono Gaf or Ono, on Jl. Halmahera, the Comboran Market area, in Malang, East Java, is like a warehouse filled with scraps of metal. But if you look closer, some of the iron piles have been assembled into various forms, such as birds or robots. There are also iron parts that are arranged into an abstract artwork. Some of them have been completed, some are only half done.

That afternoon on Saturday (2/11/2019), Ono was resting at his workshop. Rust, thick oil and a smell of scrap metal stick to his arms and clothes. Spots of blood were seen on his fingers from scratches when he was working. Understandably, there was almost no soft material, all hard and heavy. Those materials must be "conquered" by welding and grinding.