Chicken Wire Art By Ivan Lovatt

British-born artist Ivan Lovatt has created this new series of portrait busts by layering, twisting & mangling chicken wire. His work is currently on exhibition at the Jackman gallery in Melbourne, Australia. The sculptures range from $9,000 to $18,000 a pop. Not bad for twisted chicken wire.
Chicken wire, or poultry netting, is a mesh of wire commonly used to fence poultry livestock. It is made of thin, flexible galvanized wire, with hexagonal gaps. Available in 1 inch (about 2.5 cm) diameter, 2 inch (about 5 cm) and 1/2 inch (about 1.3 cm), chicken wire is available in various wire gauges usually 19 gauge (about 1 mm wire) to 22 gauge (about 0.7 mm wire). Chicken wire is occasionally used to build inexpensive cages for flying animals, though the zinc content of galvanized wire makes it inappropriate for gnawing animals such as parrots.