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When life hands you lemons, build a sign

Auto mechanic transitions to sign builder to artist

Dominick Alia’s career in automotive repair provided this mechanic-turned-artist a perfect background for his newfound hobby.

Whether life is a series of planned events punctuated by occasional moments of happenstance or the other way around, Dominick Alia’s life took an interesting turn when a sign for his auto repair business fell off the building. Immersed in automobile diagnostics and repair since the 1970s, Alia was neither fabricator nor artist, but this didn’t stop this hands-on, can-do mechanic from thinking that he could just make his own new sign.

He had plenty of shop tools, some welding experience, and access to some materials, so it wasn’t long before he turned his idea into a plan, and turned the plan into a sign. It wasn’t just a matter of making a sign, but an entirely new experience. Clamping pieces of metal into a vise, bending them to shape, hammering them for texture, and joining them with a torch were immensely satisfying for Alia. For a guy who never gave a lot of thought to art, the time he spent thinking it through and carrying it out unveiled a talent he wasn’t aware that he had.

“I used to build models when I was a kid, but I was never able to do anything like drawing or painting,” Alia said. “Other than modifying a few cars in the 1970s, I never did anything artistic.”

Initially apprehensive about displaying his artwork, this novice sculptor has been thrilled with the reactions. Lifelong friends are just as surprised as Alia is by this newfound talent, and he has received more than a few offers to buy many of his pieces (see Figure 1).

“I haven’t sold any,” Alia said, referring to a collection of a couple dozen pieces he has completed. For now he’s resisting any and all offers. “I do this to relax. I don’t want this to become a second job,” he said, in the spirit of a true artist. This isn’t to say that he wouldn’t consider sales in the future, but for now he does it purely for the enjoyment.

“It’s almost like meditation,” he said. It’s not necessarily as quiet and calm as meditation—“There’s nothing like beating a piece of metal with a hammer!”—but still Alia has found that immersing himself in the creative process is a great way to dispel the stresses of running a business, living in a metropolis, dealing with a moderately long commute, and so on. These concerns simply disappear.

“I lose all track of time,” he said.

Alia’s newfound appreciation for art doesn’t end when he closes up the shop for the evening. His hometown, New York City, is fertile ground for an artist to grow his craft, full of opportunities to see other artists’ work.

“I go to art museums, galleries, and shows all the time now,” he said.

Alia submitted a photo of “Gates of Heaven,” his tribute to the disasters of Sept. 11, 2001, to the staff at the 9/11 Memorial Museum, and the staff replied, asking him to list his sculpture in the museum’s registry (see Figure 2). This is quite an honor, a recognition that Alia’s work is on caliber with that of many professional artists.

Figure 1
Alia’s work is at times serious and at other times whimsical.

The 9/11 Memorial Museum has art on temporary display, so if someone from the museum’s staff calls, it can mean only one thing: “Gates of Heaven” was selected for display.

“I’d be blown away if that ever happened,” Alia said.

Dominick Alia, 925 E. 57th St., Brooklyn, NY 11234, compdiag925@gmail.com, www.facebook.com/domi nick.alia

Figure 2
A lifelong resident of New York City, Dominick Alia created this piece, “Gates of Heaven” to commemorate 9/11, the biggest tragedy in the city’s history.

About the Author
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Eric Lundin

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Eric Lundin worked on The Tube & Pipe Journal from 2000 to 2022.