Using only his fingertips, artist Noah Deledda of Tampa, Florida, takes trash and turns it into a true treasure. Converting typical aluminum cans into geometric art, Deledda’s work has sold for upwards of $2,000 a pop.
Deledda’s creative process stems from using his hands to create dents and grooves in a shiny aluminum finish, turning regular soda cans into delicate sculptures. He says this action elevates an item we’d normally throw away, but he also wants to show people how art can turn a discarded object into something extraordinary.
His blank can vas begins with a simple beverage purchase; it is stripped of it’s painted exterior using a special acid wash, leaving a shiny silver face for his sculptures.
His can-do attitude is the driving force behind this beautiful artwork. Pressing inch-by-inch into the exterior of a metal can is no easy feat. The painstaking process takes time, patience, and much-needed breaks. Deledda has been caught up in creative waves quite a few times leading to nerve damage in his fingertips; a true testament to the phrase, “beauty is pain.”