ROOTED IN STEEL- MONA RUTENBERG

Solo Exhibition
July 9 – August 2, 2026

Artist Reception Saturday July 11th , 2026 1-4 pm

Artist Talk 1:30 pm

Melt Studio & Gallery is pleased to present Rooted In Steel, a solo exhibition by sculptor Mona Rutenberg, on view from July 9 to August 2, 2026.

After more than thirty years working as an art therapist, Rutenberg discovered welding at the age of fifty and embarked on a new creative path as a full-time sculptor. Working primarily with salvaged steel collected from scrap yards, roadsides, and abandoned spaces, she transforms discarded materials into powerful sculptures that explore memory, resilience, repair, and transformation.

Deeply influenced by childhood experiences spent in her father's used machinery business, Rutenberg draws upon the textures, forms, and atmosphere of industrial environments that have remained embedded in her memory. Through reclaimed steel, she reconnects with these early influences while imagining the stories and histories carried within each fragment.

Rooted In Steel brings together several interconnected bodies of work, including abstract compositions inspired by tools, interactive tree trunk sculptures with hidden interiors, and pieces that merge steel with natural materials such as driftwood and roots. Together, these works reflect themes of growth, healing, attachment, and the enduring resilience found in both nature and the human spirit.

Join us in celebrating this remarkable exhibition and discover how discarded materials can be transformed into objects of beauty, meaning, and renewal.

Photo credit: @ezrasoiferman

“I discovered my passion for working with steel after gifting myself a five-day welding class on my 50th birthday. After more than thirty years as an art therapist, I shifted my focus to full-time sculpture, working in a studio filled with metal fragments gathered from scrap yards, roadsides, and dismantled basements.

My connection to this medium is deeply personal. My father owned a large used machinery company, and childhood visits to his office embedded the smells, textures, and visual language of industrial spaces into my memory. Working with salvaged steel allows me to reconnect with his influence and the significance of our relationship.

I am drawn to both the form and the history of the objects I incorporate into my sculptures. I often wonder whose hands once held them, what purpose they served, where they were abandoned, and how time and nature continue to transform them.

Some narratives emerge intuitively, while others evolve through explorations of transformation, grief, time, industrialization, and the resilience of nature.

Rooted In Steel explores my visceral connection to metal and begins with the act of searching — hunting and gathering discarded objects that seem to call out for renewal. My mantra is simple: if an object is meant for me, it will find me. I allow each piece to speak before discovering its relationship to another, much like the dynamics between people.

The exhibition bridges several interconnected bodies of work that echo themes of growth, attachment, and transformation.

One grouping reflects my longstanding passion for graphic design. Steel tools dating from the early 1900s to the present are arranged and welded into compositions shaped by the formal elements of design — horizontals, verticals, diagonals, rhythm, and balance.

A second body of work takes the form of segmented tree trunks. Some sculptures invite viewers to touch the surface, open small doors, and peer inside. These interior spaces emerged and became a way for me to reflect on hidden aspects of the self — what is protected, what is revealed, and what feels safe to share. 

A third grouping merges natural elements such as driftwood and tree forms with salvaged steel and industrial tools. In these works, roots, mushrooms, and leaves appear to grow over and through what has been left behind, reflecting the persistence of nature and the passage of time.

The act of welding and sculpting ignites my enduring need to create. Encouraged by my family since childhood, the process not only fuels my artistic practice but also grounds me — keeping me rooted while continually pushing me to dig deeper into the core of the self.” -Mona Rutenberg