My proud links to chainmakers of history

ARTIST'S WORK FOCUSES ON OVERLOOKED MIDLAND COMMUNITIES PAST AND PRESENT

- JAMIE BRASSINGTON Sunday Mercury Writer

BEING a sculptor is no ordinary job.

Spending hours a day bashing, crafting and welding metal, it's an acquired skill that takes years of practice.

And due to the physicality of the role, it doesn’t come without danger.

But for 41-year-old Luke Perry, metal work runs through his veins, meaning he’s rather good at it. Very good, in fact award-winning.

His grandad was a chainmaker and his family - who have made chains in Cradley Heath for 200 years - are the last official manufacturers of mooring chains and anchors in the UK.

Through his career spanning 20 years, Luke has made a fascinating range of sculptures commemorating heartfelt causes, topics and people from different backgrounds.

They include the lady chainmakers of Cradley Heath, with a statue standing proudly in the town centre today, a reminder of how the female workers there protested for better pay and rights over 100 years ago.

While the Lions of the Great War statue stands proudly in Smethwick, commemorating all the Sikh soldiers who bravely fought for the British Indian Army in the First World War.

Although metal work was the craft of many folk in the Black Country centuries ago, today it’s largely been consigned to the past.

Given it’s such a niche job in the 21st century, how did Luke become a sculptor?

“I wanted to make something to celebrate local chainmakers because my family had been all chainmakers,” Luke explained from Mushroom Green Chainshop.

“My grandad was a chainmaker and there was nothing around to recognise that. I wanted to do that because I thought working people should be celebrated.”

His first idea for a sculpture came in 2006. Since then, he’s worked on dozens of pieces of art, situated in the West Midlands region and further afield.