These dog sculptures made by Israeli artist Nirit Levav really make us smile. They are life size sculptures of dogs made out of upcycled bicycle chains. Although scrap metal chains are quite a heavy duty material, these dog sculptures are super sweet and look absolutely adorable.

Nirit’s dog sculptures are part of a series called “Unchained”. The artist got her inspiration by visiting a bike repair shop and seeing all the parts that the store was going to throw away. She asked for the parts and created her first dog sculpture, a Rottweiler. While working on this piece, Nirit noticed how the chains drop in a similar way to long haired dogs. This lead her to create her next dog sculpture, an Afghan hound.

Nirit loves working with bike chains as the material is quite versatile. The bike chains can be soft, short, flexible or long and stiff. This is especially great for dogs as there are so many breeds, each with a different kind of hair and coat. The bike chains offer lots of options. Nirit uses the chains in various ways to bring the different dog breeds to life.

Nirit was raised to be an upcycler. Her father was a set designer and her mother an arts and crafts teacher. Upcycling and recycling was ingrained in her from a young age, she grew up in a house where nothing was thrown away. Her mother sewed her dresses and would use the scraps to make quilts. If there was leftover chocolate cake, milk and water would be added to it to make chocolate balls. Nirit got used to thinking it was a waste to throw anything away.

Nirit’s advice to aspiring upcyclers is:

Start by collecting different stuff and think twice before throwing away, because maybe you could use it for something else. First comes the inspiration for the idea, and then the execution of the art work.

We find it very inspiring that Nirit only became an upcycling artist later on in life. She previously had a career as a fashion designer, making bridal gowns. When she realized that the creative side of herself was less and less present in her work, she decided to make a change. She realized her passion was to upcycle, to create with materials that other people were throwing away.

Nirit gets her materials from friends and family as well as local bike repair shops. We love her creative dog sculptures!

Source: Nirit Levav