Joseph Medina

Biography

Joseph Medina was born in Smithtown New York in May of 1973. There he grew up in close contact with the creatures of the forest, the seashore, creeks and rivers, lakes and ponds. The abundant life in those places always fascinated and inspired his curiosity and played a major role in his creative endeavors.

At the age of seven he began working with and studying metal. He was inspired by blacksmith work, images of medieval arms and armor, and movies sci-fi fantasy movies like Conan the Barbarian. At the age of eighteen he took his passions for metalwork and engineering to study precision machining at Tooling and Machining Institute of New York. In 1994-97 he attended and received a fine art degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology. After college he entered a career in props and model making, most notably with Rodney Gordon Millinery. There he was contracted to sculpt character masks, headdresses, hats, and anything that required custom creation. He sculpted for Phantom of the Opera, Lion King, Wicked, San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker, Radio City, and The Rockettes, as well as numerous Disney and Broadway productions.

Joseph has studied and worked professionally as a painter, precision machinist/tool and die maker, electrical and mechanical engineer, residential contractor, solar architect, cabinetmaker, model maker, ceramicist, and sculptor. His current series, Antlers: Gods of the Forest, is the result of a longtime fascination with the form, texture, rigidity and historical use of horns and antlers. Joseph is currently traveling the country and sculpting from a solar powered mobile welding studio called @TaTonka.Truck

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