WEEKEND - Recycled plastic auto parts turned into sculpture art by Gilford man

TILTON — From Joe Kildune's perspective, those discarded plastic automotive parts which most people view as junk are really hidden treasures just waiting to be transformed into vibrant visual art.

The Montserrat School of Visual Arts graduate, who spent 23 years as a designer for General Tire and Rubber, 12 of those as art director, and who holds six patents for manufacturing techniques in embossing and engraving that he invented, says that after years as a commercial artist he decided two and a half years ago that he wanted to get back into the fine arts again.

And he thinks he has found the area that he wants to concentrate on, rescuing plastic automotive parts from the landfill and recycling them into art.

''A lot of thought, design and engineering created these parts, which are really something like the human figure, dynamic and symmetrical. The eye can see a resemblance in automobiles to life forms: insects, marine animals, a mirrored equal design, eye sockets which once shrouded running lights, a grille now a mouth agape, graceful turned forms finishing into refined wings,'' says Kildune.

An exhibition of his sculpture, billed as a solo exhibition by Uncle Joe's Sculpture, was held last weekend at AutoServ in Tilton, not far from where he first started gathering material for recycling it into art.

''There was whole pile of parts in a dumpster at the AutoServ collision center and I grabbed one of the bumpers and took it back to a studio in Gilford where I hit it it with some heat and started reshaping it. I like working with the material. It's rigid but flexible and you can shape it into whatever your vision is and create really interesting works. My mind's eye sees flowing forms bent and intertwined, created in abstract but recognizable statues, no longer trash but now embodying a life of its own,'' says Kildune.

Kildune, who grew up in Lawrence, Mass., says that he named his opening exhibit ''The Departed'' partly in honor of the movie of the same name, which was about the Irish mob in Boston, but also because it describes the nature of his work.

''Through trial and error I have made friends with the departed, the remnants, the bumpers, bringing them to the artistic conclusion of representing life forms in sculpture.

As for the Irish part, he says "I've got Irish ancestry myself. The Kildunes came to Boston from Ireland in 1922.''

He says that while the larger sculptures attracted a lot of attention at his first show, including a one about 15 feet high which he says was inspired by Pee Wee Herman's dance performance to the song ''Taquila'', that everyone at the show fell in love with a smaller dog sculpture and that he's already received requests for more of the canine sculptures, as well as proposals for creating a series of sculptures for municipal parks.

''I might take on a commissioned project but it would have to be something interesting. I don't like to be bored while I work,'' says Kildune.

He describes himself as ''a free spirit'' who has had a fun life. ''We've got to enjoy it while we're here. One of the things I enjoy the most is talking about art with my 22-year-old daughter, Kailey, who just graduated from the Parsons School of Art in New York City and now does illustration and animation there,'' says Kildune.

His sculptures can still be seen in an entryway foyer at AutoServ.

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Joe Kildune with one of his sculpture made from recycled plastic auto parts which was inspired by Pee Wee Herman's dance performance to the song Taquila which was part of a display of his works which was displayed at an exhibit at AutoServ in Tilton last weekend. (Roger Amsden photo for the Laconia Daily Sun)

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Joe Kildune lifts Dancing Man, one of his sculptures made from recycled plastic auto parts. (Roger Amsden photo for the Laconia Daily Sun)

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A sculpture of a dog made from recycled auto parts was one of the favorites at an exhibition of Joe Kildune's work at an exhibition held last weekend at AutoServ in Tilton. (Roger Amsden photo for the Laconia Daily Sun)

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A reptile like sculpture made from recycled auto parts at the entryway to AutoServ in Tilton. (Roger Amsden photo for the Laconia Daily Sun)