Turning trash into art

Yoseph Adams' treasured sculptures are created from others' trash.

Much of that trash comes from Dennis Christy, who lives a few blocks away from the Olivehurst artist.

"I would drive by his house and see him working on something," said Christy, who has worked with metal all his life. "After about the fifth time, I noticed he was creating a huge sculpture."

Christy stopped to talk with Adams, and that's when their symbiotic friendship was fused.

"He's got a ton of stuff in his back yard. I think he likes to see some of the junk that he knows he's never going to use turn into something that is going to be looked at by a lot of people," Adams said.

"He knows he's connected to it in some way," Adams added.

Adams has an informal network of neighbors who supply him with their discarded debris, and they get the benefit of seeing what he creates.

"After I made the tortoise, it gave me the idea to make the hare," Adams said of one of his recent pieces. "I woke up one morning and saw the rabbit from head to toe with all the junk I have laying around. It's a first for me to be able to see something that clear from beginning to end."

The Theater Gallery is hosting an artist's reception for Adams' sculpture exhibit from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.

"We were entranced with his creativity. It's edgy, it's industrial," said Terri Tomlinson, co-chair of the Sutter Performing Arts Association, which runs the Theater Gallery.