Steve Kost’s path to becoming a scrap metal artist began at 17, when he joined the Navy and trained as a hull technician. He later served as a steelworker with a Navy Seabees battalion and was deployed to Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1992.

“Things kind of spiraled out of control there,” Kost recalled. “I had some things happen to me that stuck with me.”

After returning home, he tried to put those traumatic experiences behind him. He worked as an ironworker, and through counseling with the Veterans Health Administration, he began experimenting with spare metal parts—eventually transforming them into intricate animal sculptures.