Victoria Harbour teen makes artefacts out of waste aluminium

Instead of throwing used beverage cans in the garbage or taking them to recyclers, Jacob Therrien, a teen from Victoria Harbour decides to create art out of them.

The 14-year-old high school student creates sculptures by remelting scrap aluminium. He has made small makeshift workspaces in his backyard and garage in order to give shape to his creative work.

A YouTube video sparked his his interest in this unusual craft two years back. He saw an artist melting down aluminium and then pouring it on another substance to give it interesting shapes.  In order to create his sculptures Jacob uses Orbeez, gel beads that expand when wet.

“I thought at first that my mom wouldn’t let me do it,” he said. “So I secretly ... took some bricks from out back, went out and bought charcoal for the heat, and a couple weeks later I started getting good.”

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Jacob’s mom has watched her son’s craft for some time and come around to encourage him by supporting him morally and financially.

Jacob has created about 500 interesting sculpture pieces since the beginning, and he is getting buyers for his work. He participated in the Coldwater Steampunk Festival in August and won first prize in the youth contest and the overall people’s choice award for his creative sculptures. His arts caught the attention of local sellers like Pebble Tree in Midland, which now sells his aluminium art pieces to its customers.

Last year, the young boy made $1,000 selling his art pieces and invested in buying a new bike for himself. The young artist enjoys his craft and intends to continue with it in future.

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