Finding his magic powers

Courtesy of artsBHAM

Visions of life-size iron workers, goddesses, birds and small animals circulate through Ajene Williams’ imagination as he works in the cavernous casting shed at Sloss Furnaces.

The Birmingham artist, who as a youngster began sculpting with Play-Doh, has been feeding his passion for sculpture at Sloss’ metal arts program, held in an open-air facility across from the visitors center at the historic site.

“As a kid, I started making little sets and dioramas, little characters, little stories, little boxes, mermaids and Batman characters,” says Williams as a cool breeze wafts through the covered shed on a warm afternoon. “I used to make a lot of comics and tell stories. I liked magic, but I was never very good.”

At the urging of Jena Momenee, his art teacher at Woodlawn High School, Williams (his first name, Ajene, is pronounced AH-je-nay) enrolled at Sloss’ Summer Youth Program, where he would learn the art of sculpting figures with wax and casting them in iron.

“When I got here I had no talent,” said the shy 23-year-old. “I had no idea what I was doing, and I hated the feel of the wax. But [Momenee] pushed me. She drove me up here. She knew I would love it.”

Marshall Christie, director of metal arts at Sloss, disagreed with Williams’ self-effacing assessment of his talent, discovering what he called “raw talent” while assessing the facilities with Sloss’s Furnace Master John Stewart Jackson.

“We found 75 little wax pieces of his laid out on tables, tucked into every nook and cranny,” Christie said. “Ajene had been gone about a year. He had gotten frustrated with how things were going and left. When we learned that, we got back in touch with him and brought him back as an apprentice. Over the next year and a half, he worked his way up to artist in residence.”

That Sloss could even support a paid artist-in-residence position represented a significant upswing for the program, which had eliminated resident artist positions following financial difficulties five years ago.

“We had lost a lot of our grant funding because of what happened,” Christie said. “There was a lot of fence mending to do to get people back involved. We have a grant writer back this year, and we’re making facility improvements, programming and more outreach.”

Many of the metal arts program’s goals are again being realized, including increasing access to local artists and helping students find a medium to work in, whether it’s art or industrial skills such as welding or blacksmithing.

“It goes into a lot of different aspects where you can make a living,” Christie said. “It extends beyond art, especially in the summer youth program. Some kids are going to do art for a living, but a lot of them aren’t. Learning those skills translates into other avenues. Some students get welding certification or go into architecture. There’s a creative element where they can express themselves.”

Williams’ rise within the program is a prime example. Under Christie’s tutelage, he quickly realized his potential.

“It starts from a real ability to create enough detail without overdoing it,” Christie said. “Building the initial shape, proportions are everything, especially with naturalistic, realistic pieces. Ajene has that eye for proportions. He builds shapes quickly, which allows him more time to spend on detailing, taking it to another level.”

His artistry was on full display in April at the Magic City Art Connection, where he was the 2016 Emerging Artist. One of 200 local and international artists at the festival, he sold nearly every piece he brought to his booth. His talent caught the eye of Martha Council, a collector whose Forest Park home is filled with artworks, many of which she commissioned. She was especially attracted to a sculpture of a yellowhammer, Alabama’s state bird. It already was sold, so Council asked him to create another one. It would be Williams’ first solo commission.

“It’s completed, and it’s beautiful,” Council said, who takes pride in discovering local talent. “It’s sitting in my kitchen right now.”

Council, who likes to get to know the artists she commissions, said she made three or four trips to Sloss to watch the process of wax sculpting through pouring. “It made it more valuable to me to see the benefits Sloss offers to the community that so many people aren’t aware of,” she said.

For Williams, the metal arts program, the Magic City Art Connection and his first commission have been life-changing experiences. Sloss has instilled in him a sense of Birmingham’s history as a foundry city, and he said he hopes his work as artist-in-residence will lead to those lofty life-size characters he dreams about.

“I was never good at magic as a kid,” he said. “I would try, but all I could find was my talent as an artist. That’s my magic.”

Editor’s note: This article was produced in partnership with artsBHAM. To learn more about them, visit artsbham.com.